EU adopts safeguards on general purpose artificial intelligence

MEPs want limits on the use of biometric identification systems by law enforcement

- Advertisement -

The European Parliament took an important step in regulating technology, approving on March 13 the EU’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act that aims to ensure safety and compliance with fundamental rights, while boosting innovation.

The regulation, which was agreed in negotiations with member states in December 2023, was endorsed by MEPs with 523 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions, strives to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field. The regulation establishes obligations for AI based on its potential risks and level of impact. It is now expected to be rubber stamped by the EU Council, becoming law soon.

“We finally have the world’s first binding law on artificial intelligence, to reduce risks, create opportunities, combat discrimination, and bring transparency,” the EU Parliament’s Internal Market Committee co-rapporteur Brando Benifei from Italy said during the plenary debate on March 12. “Thanks to Parliament, unacceptable AI practices will be banned in Europe and the rights of workers and citizens will be protected,” he argued, noting that the AI Office will now be set up to support companies to start complying with the rules before they enter into force. “We ensured that human beings and European values are at the very centre of AI’s development,” Benifei said.

The Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee co-rapporteur Dragos Tudorache from Romania said the EU linked the concept of artificial intelligence to the fundamental values that form the basis of the societies. “However, much work lies ahead that goes beyond the AI Act itself. AI will push us to rethink the social contract at the heart of our democracies, our education models, labour markets, and the way we conduct warfare. The AI Act is a starting point for a new model of governance built around technology. We must now focus on putting this law into practice,” he said.

Banned applications

According to the European Parliament, the new rules ban certain AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, including biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics and untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases. Emotion recognition in the workplace and schools, social scoring, predictive policing when it is based solely on profiling a person or assessing their characteristics, and AI that manipulates human behaviour or exploits people’s vulnerabilities will also be forbidden.

The use of remote biometric identification systems (RBI) by law enforcement is prohibited in principle, except in exhaustively listed and narrowly defined situations, the EU Parliament said. “Real-time” RBI can only be deployed if strict safeguards are met, for example its use is limited in time and geographic scope and subject to specific prior judicial or administrative authorization. Such uses may include, for example, a targeted search for a missing person or preventing a terrorist attack. Using such systems post-facto (post-remote RBI) is considered a high-risk use case, requiring judicial authorization being linked to a criminal offence, MEPs said.

Obligations for high-risk systems

Clear obligations are also foreseen for other high-risk AI systems due to their significant potential harm to health, safety, fundamental rights, environment, democracy and the rule of law. Examples of high-risk AI uses include critical infrastructure, education and vocational training, employment, essential private and public services, for example healthcare, banking, certain systems in law enforcement, migration and border management, justice and democratic processes, for example influencing elections. Such systems must assess and reduce risks, maintain use logs, be transparent and accurate, and ensure human oversight. Citizens will have a right to submit complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that affect their rights.

Manipulated images and deepfakes

General-purpose AI (GPAI) systems, and the GPAI models they are based on, must meet certain transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and publishing detailed summaries of the content used for training. The more powerful GPAI models that could pose systemic risks will face additional requirements, including performing model evaluations, assessing and mitigating systemic risks, and reporting on incidents, MEPs said.

Additionally, deepfakes – images, audio or video content that has been artificially generated or manipulated need to be clearly labelled as such.

Turning to measures to support SMEs, MEPs said regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing will have to be established at the national level, and made accessible to SMEs and start-ups, to develop and train innovative AI before its placement on the market.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

Tariff Trouble in Trump Town

President Trump has had many a cartoon about him...

Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global...

The New Face of an Old Enemy: The renewed dangers of ISIS and al-Qaeda

A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda...

EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum enhances regional cooperation, sustainable development

Almaty, the largest city and former capital of Kazakhstan,...

Don't miss

Tariff Trouble in Trump Town

President Trump has had many a cartoon about him...

Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global...

The New Face of an Old Enemy: The renewed dangers of ISIS and al-Qaeda

A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda...

EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum enhances regional cooperation, sustainable development

Almaty, the largest city and former capital of Kazakhstan,...

Tariff Trouble in Trump Town

President Trump has had many a cartoon about him as a child throwing toys and anything to hand out of the playpen. Now, of...

Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global markets with a three-day surge of tariff announcements, border security negotiations and ultimately a 30-day...

The New Face of an Old Enemy: The renewed dangers of ISIS and al-Qaeda

A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda to evolve from a shadowy fringe network in the early 1990s into one of the...

EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum enhances regional cooperation, sustainable development

Almaty, the largest city and former capital of Kazakhstan, hosted the fifth EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum on January 28-30, focusing on digital transformation,...

Donald Trump is inaugurated amidst promises of security, stability and prosperity

After storming a frigid Washington D.C. during his extended inauguration festivities on January 20, Donald J Trump, America’s 47th and 45th President, launched a...

The heat is on Trump’s fossil fuel push, climate change pushback

2024 has officially been confirmed as the warmest year on record, with global temperatures surpassing the 1.5°C threshold mentioned in the Paris Agreement, Alberto...

The Biden administration’s parting gift to Russia: Still more sanctions

Clearly working overtime to underscore the Biden administration’s desire to inflict maximum economic pain on Moscow and its coterie of Ukraine invasion supporters outside...

Undeclared “open season” on energy infrastructure in Europe

Russia is claiming it has shot down nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Europe through...