EU Adopts AI Act

Yesterday, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the EU AI Act. 523 MEPs voted in favour of the regulation, with 46 against and 49 abstentions. The landmark vote by the Parliament marks the end of a long process to introduce wide-ranging rules to govern AI.

Rules to govern AI on a EU-wide level were first proposed in 2021. Senior EU officials have argued that the new regulation’s risk-based approach will protect citizens from technological risks, while also fostering innovation.

The EU’s high-risk/tiered approach to AI regulation:

Unacceptable risk – existential threats that endanger the lives of citizens
High risk – critical infrastructures that could put the life and health of citizens at risk, education or vocational training and safety components of products
Limited risk – AI systems with risk of manipulation or deceit
Minimal risk – AI systems that do not fall under the above-mentioned categories, but carry some level of risk

The new Act addresses the following areas:

Manipulation
Vulnerable groups
Biometrics
Social scoring
Criminal profiling
Facial recognition

The Act will enter into force on the 20^th day following publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will be fully applicable after 2024 months.

Key dates:

6 months: prohibitions on unacceptable risk AI become applicable
12 months: obligations for general purpose AI governance become applicable
24 months: all AI Act rules become applicable, including obligations for high-risk systems
36 months: obligations for all other high-risk systems apply

techUK - Seizing the AI Opportunity

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