Stuck in the middle with EU

This week on the AI Business podcast, we look at the draft
European Regulation on artificial intelligence, a.k.a. the
Artificial Intelligence Act.


This long-expected piece of legislation will be the first attempt
to regulate AI on a super-national level – but does it go far
enough to meet the aim of stopping AI systems that pose a ‘clear
threat’ to citizens’ rights and livelihoods?


Is not just a draft, but a declaration of intent – the proposed
policy offers a vision that’s very different from both the
relaxed regulatory approach seen in the US, and the embrace of AI
for the purposes of the state that is practiced in China.


The EU framework Proposes to categorize AI systems in terms of
their impact, and the risk they pose. ‘Unacceptable risk' would
cover systems that are deemed to be a "clear threat to the
safety, livelihoods, and rights of people” – like systems
designed to manipulate human behavior, or those used for ‘social
scoring.’


The ‘High-risk’ category would cover systems for critical
infrastructure, and some systems for law enforcement. ‘Limited
risk’ and ‘Minimal risk’ categories would cover products like
chatbots, AI-enabled video games, and spam filters.


The draft seems to take a strong position on biometric
surveillance systems in public spaces. At first sight, these
appear to be banned, but the document lists a large number of
potential exceptions. We’re not the only ones confused by this;
the EU's chief data protection supervisor is confused too.


We also cover: Gonzo the Cat! Bernie memorabilia! Reasons to
distrust the intelligence services! Apple VS Facebook!


As always, you can find the people responsible for the circus
podcast online:


Max Smolaks (@maxsmolax)

Sebastian Moss (@SebMoss)

Tien Fu (@tienchifu)

Ben Wodecki (@benwodecki)