EU lawmakers take first step towards AI curbs
European Parliament lawmakers on Thursday took a crucial first step towards EU-wide regulation of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence systems that Brussels hopes to put speedily in place. Parliamentary committees on civil liberties and consumer protection overwhelmingly voted for a position text calling for curbs on how AI can be used in Europe, while still fostering innovation in the sector. The text is to be put to the full parliament next month for adoption before negotiations with EU member states on a final law. Lawmakers called Thursday's vote "historic" and hoped it would lead to "the world's first rules on artificial intelligence". Their text picks up the main lines from a European Commission proposal made two years ago, but suggests adding bans on biometric surveillance, emotion recognition and predictive policing AI systems. It seeks to put generative AI systems such as ChatGPT and Midjourney in a category requiring special transparency measures, such as notifications to users that the output was made by a machine, not a human. The parliament's text also seeks additional criteria as to what constitutes a "high-risk" AI area of application, which could reduce the scope of that designation. The commission proposed list covers AI in critical infrastructure, education, human resources, public order and migration management. But the MEPs want an additional threshold to be met, requiring that threats to safety, health or fundamental rights are also deemed to be in play. While EU work towards legislation has been going on for some time, the potential – and potential perils – of AI has exploded into the public consciousness only in the last few months, since ChatGPT burst onto the scene at the end of last year. Image-generation AI such as Midjourney and DALL-E have since sparked an online rush to make lookalike Van Goghs or a pope in a high fashion puffer jacket, while AI music sites have impressed with their ability to produce human-like singing. (AFP)