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On Wednesday, the European Union will try to come to an agreement on broad regulations to control artificial intelligence. This comes after months of challenging talks, especially regarding the oversight of ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI.

Brussels is bent on bringing big tech to heel with a powerful legal armoury to protect EU citizens’ rights, especially those covering privacy and data protection.

The EU is moving quickly to pass the first comprehensive AI law in history because the issue became more urgent when the ChatGPT bot emerged last year and brought attention to the astounding advancements in AI.

The speed at which ChatGPT could generate essays and poems left us in awe.

Proponents of AI claim that the technology will benefit humanity and revolutionize everything from healthcare to work, but others are concerned about the risks it poses to society and believe it could cause unimaginable chaos.

Brussels has a strong legal arsenal to defend the rights of EU citizens, particularly those related to data protection and privacy, and is determined to hold big tech accountable.

The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, first put out a proposal for an AI law in 2021 that would have regulated systems according to the risk they posed. For instance, the obligations of the system increase with the risk to the rights or health of the citizens.

The final legal text was being negotiated; however, at the last minute, discussions were threatened by a heated debate in recent weeks about how to regulate AI applications such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot. The debate started in June.

Certain member states are concerned that excessive regulation may hinder innovation and diminish the likelihood of creating European AI behemoths to rival those in the US, such as OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and tech behemoths like Google and Meta.

On Wednesday at 1400 GMT, negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states will gather; discussions are anticipated to continue into the evening.

Senior EU officials have stated repeatedly that the bloc needs to finalize the law before the end of 2023, even though there isn’t a set deadline.

pursuing regional winners

There are still major issues that need to be resolved for the negotiations to conclude without an agreement, according to EU diplomats, industry sources, and other EU officials.

Some have argued that a number of meetings will be necessary to iron out the technical details of the law, even in the event of a political agreement.

Furthermore, the law would not take effect until 2026 at the latest, even if EU negotiators agree.

The primary point of contention is how to regulate “foundation models,” which are intended to carry out a range of functions. France, Germany, and Italy have called for their exclusion.

German MEP Axel Voss, a member of the special parliamentary committee on artificial intelligence, stated, “France, Italy, and Germany don’t want a regulation for these models.”

Nonetheless, Voss stated that the parliament considers regulating such models to be “necessary… for transparency”.

The three largest EU economies released a paper towards the end of last month advocating for a “innovation-friendly” interpretation of the AI Act.

Berlin, Paris, and Rome argue that codes of conduct should be followed by foundation models instead of stringent regulations.

Many think that the reason for this shift in perspective is that they don’t want to impede the progress of European champions, and they might even want to support businesses like Aleph Alpha in Germany and Mistral AI in France.

notable advancement

Remote biometric surveillance, or facial recognition using camera data in public areas, is another contentious issue.

Member states oppose the EU parliament’s desire for a complete ban on “real-time” remote biometric identification systems. In its original proposal, the commission suggested that exceptions might be made in order to locate possible victims of crime, such as missing children.

There have been suggestions that MEPs make concessions in other areas in exchange for giving in on this one.

Thierry Breton, the chief tech enforcer for the EU, is still optimistic about a deal.

The EU’s internal market commissioner, Catherine Breton, stated on Tuesday that “significant progress has been made by both sides,” referring to Spain’s mandate to wrap up negotiations on Wednesday as the current rotating EU presidency.

Globally, there is concern about the effects of AI and the necessity of monitoring the technology.

In an effort to reduce the risks associated with AI, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order in October establishing regulations.