EU announces new AI rules, hoping to set global standard

The European Commission has announced stricter rules to regulate the burgeoning AI sector in order to protect public safety and human rights, as well as to dispel myths surrounding the technology, and catch up with China and the US.

The draft regulatory framework will impose checks on AI technologies that are considered to be "high risk" as well as banning the majority of surveillance uses and live facial scanning, as well as filtering out school, job or credit scoring.

The Commission said in a press release that the legal framework, together with a new coordinated plan with member states, will "guarantee the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses while strengthening AI uptake, investment and innovation across the EU."

Read more: EU sets 2030 target for semiconductors and quantum technology

AI applications which are used in critical infrastructure migration, as well as law enforcement, are also set to be subject to these new safeguards.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, said: "On Artificial Intelligence, trust is a must, not a nice to have. With these landmark rules, the EU is spearheading the development of new global norms to make sure AI can be trusted."

She added that the standards would ensure the EU remains competitive and that the rules would intervene "where strictly needed: when the safety and fundamental rights of EU citizens are at stake."

The Commission is aiming to set a global standard for what it considers to be a vital technology. It is also hoping that it will help to dispel misconceptions and myths about AI, enabling the bloc to catch up with leaders in the field, such as the US and China.

Brussels underlined the fact that there would also be a blanket ban on government "social scoring" systems, such as the controversial Chinese Social Credit System, which judges people based on their "behaviour". 

AI applications that exploit children would also be banned under the rules.

"It can be a case where a toy uses voice systems to manipulate a child into doing something dangerous," Vestager said. "Such uses have no place in Europe and therefore we propose to ban them."

Companies that violate the rules can be fined as much as 6% of their global turnover, or €30 million.

Exceptions to the rules would be made for very narrowly defined law enforcement purposes, such as preventing terrorist attacks or searching for missing people.

Also read: EU Industry Days: 23-26 February 2021

However, some in the tech industry have expressed concerns that the regulations will simply create more red tape for companies.

Not long after the Commission announcement, Christian Borggreen, Vice President of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a tech lobbying group, tweeted that AI would be key to Europe's economic recovery but that rules alone will not make it a leader in the tech.

Human rights and privacy activists have also expressed concerns that the proposed legislation does not go far enough to prevent unethical uses of the technology.

Sarah Chander of the advocacy group European Digital Rights (EDRi), said the regulatory framework "leaves a worrying gap for discriminatory and surveillance technologies used by governments and companies."

"The draft law does not prohibit the full extent of unacceptable uses of AI and, in particular, all forms of biometric mass surveillance," she added.

The legislation has been accused of leaving a loophole, allowing for the use of technology that can recognise emotions or pinpoint certain biometric traits including race, gender, sexuality and political orientation. 

Read more: EU to impose tougher rules on Big Tech

The Commission's proposal has been in the works for over a year and the debates in Parliament and in member states are anticipated to go on for several months before any definitive text is agreed. The wording of the phrase "ban" will likely come under heavy scrutiny as the regulations are pored over by rights groups and MEPs.

The draft rules must also be reviewed by the European Council and could then be amended.

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