The European Parliament has passed a significant vote on Wednesday, adopting its final negotiating position on the Artificial Intelligence Act, aiming to establish regulations for AI systems developed and used within the European Union. The measure garnered substantial support, receiving 499 votes in favor, with only 28 votes against and 93 abstentions. This Act intends to ensure that AI technologies operating in Europe adhere to the fundamental rights and values of the EU, such as human oversight, safety, privacy, transparency, non-discrimination, and social and environmental wellbeing, said the EU Parliament in a press release.
Included in the proposed regulations are strict bans on certain AI applications. This Act seeks to prohibit real-time remote biometric surveillance, predictive policing, emotion recognition, as well as any form of AI utilizing social scoring. Furthermore, the use of biometric data associated with factors like race, citizenship status, and political affiliations would be completely abolished.
Law enforcement agencies would only be permitted to use remote biometric systems with the approval of a judicial authority, specifically in “post” situations. Additionally, the Act would outlaw the scraping of data from CCTV cameras for the creation of recognition databases, as it is deemed a violation of privacy.
The regulations also emphasize the need for AI systems to disclose whether content is generated by AI and distinguish between deepfake images and authentic ones. To ensure transparency, detailed summaries of copyrighted data used for training AI systems should be made publicly available, as stated by the EU Parliament.
A core objective of the proposed law is to enhance public accountability for AI-powered systems. Individuals should have the right to file complaints regarding AI systems and receive explanations for decisions made by high-risk AI systems that significantly impact their fundamental rights, according to the EU Parliament. Monitoring compliance would be the responsibility of the EU’s AI Office.
To address potential risks to the public, sandbox spaces would be established for testing AI technologies. Nonetheless, exemptions would be granted for AI used exclusively for research purposes.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, expressed concerns about the potential for AI to perpetuate discrimination. Vestager highlighted the need to prevent biased decision-making, such as when banks use AI to determine mortgage approvals or when social services provided by municipalities are influenced by AI. It is crucial to safeguard individuals from discrimination based on gender, race, or residential area, Vestager specified in an interview with the BBC.
The proposed law will now undergo further negotiations with the European Council, which serves as the executive branch of the EU.
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