EU lawmakers have advanced legislation on artificial intelligence (AI) to the next stage after completing votes in two committees of lawmakers.
In a May 11 vote, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) agreed to include a ban on the use of facial recognition and predictive policing tools in public spaces in the much-anticipated artificial intelligence bill. MEPs also agreed to implement new transparency measure s affecting tools that generate artificial intelligence. Measures proposed at the last meeting require AI tools to be classified according to their perceived level of risk, which ranges from low to unacceptable.
MEP Kim van Sparrentak called the vote a "milestone" for AI regulation and said "fundamental rights" should be emphasized when developing such regulations. "AI should serve people, society and the environment, not the other way around." The AI bill, which has been under negotiation for the past two years, will now enter the next stage of the legislative process, finalizing details between the European Commission and member states. Once finalized, the bill will be one of the first legislative attempts to affect the use and development of artificial intelligence. These developments come as the availability and usage of artificial intelligence tools and applications soar.
On May 10, at the Google I/O conference, the company announced several new AI-based features that will be integrated into its main platform. A week ago, Microsoft gave users free access to ChatGPT-4. The technology has already been tested in real life, with an AI chatbot serving as a drive-thru operator at Wendy's fast food chain.
Lawmakers around the world are watching the AI boom and considering how to regulate the technology. The UK, US and China have all said regulation is needed.
