EU green-lights groundbreaking AI legislation

European Union legislators have given final approval to the 27-nation bloc’s artificial intelligence (AI) law, putting the world-leading rules on track to take effect later this year.

Members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Artificial Intelligence Act, five years after regulations were first proposed.

The legislation is expected to act as a global signpost for other governments grappling with how to regulate the fast-developing technology.

Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian politician and co-leader of the negotiations on the draft law, said: “The AI Act has nudged the future of AI in a human-centric direction, where humans are in control of the technology and where it – the technology – helps us leverage new discoveries, economic growth, societal progress and unlock human potential.”

Big tech companies have generally supported the need to regulate AI while lobbying to ensure any rules work in their favour.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman caused a minor stir last year when he suggested the ChatGPT maker could pull out of Europe if it cannot comply with the AI Act – before backtracking to say there were no plans to leave.

The AI Act was initially intended to act as consumer safety legislation, taking a “risk-based approach”.

The riskier an AI application, the more scrutiny it faces. Low-risk systems, such as content recommendation systems or spam filters, will only face light rules such as revealing that they are powered by AI.

High-risk uses, such as in medical devices or critical infrastructure, face tougher requirements including using high-quality data and providing clear information to users.

Some AI uses are banned because they are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk, like police scanning faces in public using AI-powered remote “biometric identification” systems, except for serious crimes such as kidnapping or terrorism.