Europe takes the first step towards artificial intelligence legislation, with violators being fined up to 40 million euros

Source: Global Times

The European Parliament has given a green light to strictly regulate artificial intelligence (AI), "German television reported in a 12 day report." The European Parliament's Internal Market Committee and Civil Liberties Committee overwhelmingly approved the negotiation authorization draft of the AI bill proposal on the 11th, which is a crucial first step for the EU to legislate and strictly regulate the application of AI technology. This news has continued to attract attention over the past weekend, and artificial intelligence regulation is being further promoted in multiple countries.

According to media disclosures, the draft involves strict prohibition of "AI systems that pose unacceptable risks to human security," including systems that intentionally manipulate technology, exploit human weaknesses, or evaluate based on behavior, social status, and personal characteristics. The European Commission proposed this bill idea about two years ago, aimed at developing global standards for AI themes. The European Parliament still needs to vote on the committee's amendment and plans to hold a meeting from June 12th to 15th. Afterwards, negotiations will begin with representatives of EU member states on the final form of the law.

The statement issued by the European Parliament states that once approved, the law will become the world's first regulation on artificial intelligence. After the law is passed, companies that violate regulations can be fined up to 40 million euros or 7% of their global annual revenue. In the amendment to the proposal, lawmakers expressed their desire to ensure that AI systems can be manually monitored, secure, transparent, non discriminatory, and environmentally friendly. German Social Democratic Party legislator Rene Rapas said, "We must ensure that artificial intelligence applications are never used against citizens." However, some lawmakers have also criticized the bill. German legislator Axel Voss stated that this bill is a "step in the right direction", but limiting its development with fear of artificial intelligence may stifle opportunities for new technologies to emerge.

In order to standardize the development of AI, many countries around the world have taken measures. On April 11th, the National Internet Information Office of China released the "Management Measures for Generative Artificial Intelligence Services (Draft for Comments)", and the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States released the "Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework" in January this year.

Pan Helin, co director of the Research Center for Digital Economy and Financial innovation of the International Joint School of Business of Zhejiang University, said to the reporter of the Global Times on the 14th that Europe is in the lead in AI legislation, while the American legal system is different, depending on specific precedents. Zeng Yi, director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Governance of the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said recently to the Global Times reporter that China has done some pioneering work in artificial intelligence ethics and governance, data governance, algorithm governance and platform governance, but there are also some shortcomings. " Zeng Yi stated that in terms of overall legal construction in artificial intelligence, China still needs to learn from the advanced practices of some countries.