Lawmakers in the European Union are seeking to implement a code of conduct for the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) ahead of the upcoming EU Artificial Intelligence Act.
At a joint EU-US trade and technology committee meeting in Sweden on May 31, EU technology chief Margrethe Vestager said US and EU officials should push the AI industry to Adoption of a voluntary code of conduct within months. According to Vestager, this will establish safeguards while new laws are still being developed. She stressed that in a "best-case scenario" the new law would take effect in two and a half to three years, "obviously too late". Vestager is responsible for coordinating the EU Data and AI approach strategy. If the EU and US take the lead, she said, they could create codes of conduct that would make everyone "more comfortable" with the trajectory of AI.
"That's the kind of pace that you need to be talking about in the coming weeks, months, and of course the industry ... in order for society to believe in what's happening." The tech chief said lawmakers need to agree on specifics, not sweeping blanket statements.
Meanwhile, the EU's AI bill, which is still being finalized by members of the European Parliament, will introduce sweeping regulations for the technology.
The latest draft legislation includes a ban on public use of biometric surveillance and predictive policing tools. Additionally, AI tools also need to be categorized according to their perceived level of risk, ranging from low to unacceptable. On May 25, Sam Alt man, CEO of OpenAI, the company responsible for the AI chatbot ChatGPT, addressed EU lawmakers on the issue of over-regulation of the AI industry.
