EU paves way for strict regulation of artificial intelligence

THE opening framework of an artificial intelligence law to overcome the risks associated with AI has been approved by the European Parliament.

The Act has been drawn up as a response to growing privacy and bias concerns amid the sector’s sudden and dramatic growth.

AI products will be evaluated and classified in accordance to their risk in a move its creators have described as making the technology “human-centric”, and something MEP Dragos Tudorache suggested was “not the end of the journey but the starting point for new governance built around technology".

Europe’s introduction of AI regulation follows a series of laws passed by China over the past year.

"The adoption of the AI Act marks the beginning of a new AI era and its importance cannot be overstated," Enza Lannopollo, principal analyst at Forrester explained, adding the EU would now become the global standard for confidence in AI.

"The EU AI Act is the world's first and only set of binding requirements to mitigate AI risks."

The principle underpinning the new AI law essentially matches rules to risk factors and what harm AI could potentially do. The higher the risk, the stricter the rules become.

Any AI platforms of apps which involve the processing of biometric data are expected to be banned as they are deemed a “clear risk to fundamental rights".

The Act, if successfully adopted through the next phases of EU governance, could be written into European law as early as next year.

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