EU agrees ‘historic’ deal with world's first laws to regulate AI

The European Union lawmakers have struck a historic agreement on their comprehensive AI Act safety development bill, which is the most comprehensive and far-reaching of its kind to date, after a protracted 72-hour debate, according to The Washington Post. The actual terms of the agreement were not immediately made public.

"This legislation will represent a standard, a model, for many other jurisdictions out there," Dragoș Tudorache, a Romanian lawmaker co-leading the AI Act negotiation, told The Washington Post, "which means that we have to have an extra duty of care when we draft it because it is going to be an influence for many others."

Future machine learning model development and distribution within the trade bloc would be restricted by the proposed restrictions, which would have an influence on the models' applicability in a variety of fields, including healthcare, employment, and education. Depending on the possible level of social risk, AI development would be divided into four categories: low, limited, high, and forbidden.

Anything that goes against the user's will, targets specific social groups, or offers real-time biometric tracking (such as facial recognition) would be considered a banned usage. Anything "intended to be used as a safety component of a product" or that is to be used in certain applications such as essential infrastructure, education, legal/judicial proceedings, and employing employees are considered high risk uses. Chatbots that fall under the category of "limited risk" metrics include ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing.

"Artificial intelligence should not be an end in itself, but a tool that has to serve people with the ultimate aim of increasing human well-being," the European Commission wrote in its draft AI regulations. "Rules for artificial intelligence available in the Union market or otherwise affecting Union citizens should thus put people at the centre (be human-centric), so that they can trust that the technology is used in a way that is safe and compliant with the law, including the respect of fundamental rights."

"At the same time, such rules for artificial intelligence should be balanced, proportionate and not unnecessarily constrain or hinder technological development," it continued. "This is of particular importance because, although artificial intelligence is already present in many aspects of people’s daily lives, it is not possible to anticipate all possible uses or applications thereof that may happen in the future."

Source European Parliament