MEPs want chatbots to include safeguards that will prevent them from generating content that is illegal under EU law.
Members of the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted on Thursday morning to advance a draft regulation to ensure the “ethical development” of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The vote, which took place in a joint session of the internal market and civil liberties committees, added new provisions to the original text proposed by the European Commission, most notably obligations on so-called generative foundation models, like ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI that has revolutionised the tech industry.
The amendment is meant to ensure chatbots are transparent, include safeguards against content illegal under EU law and respect fundamental rights like freedom of expression.
MEPs also pushed to ban what they call “intrusive and discriminatory uses” of AI, such as biometric identification in public spaces, emotion recognition systems and predictive policing systems,
Thursday’s mandate was approved with 84 votes in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions.
The vote, however, is far from final: MEPs still need to approve their negotiating mandate in a plenary session, which will then be used for discussions with member states. These talks, known in Brussels as “trilogues,” are expected to result in a compromise text that will then become law.
The Artificial Intelligence Act was first proposed by the Commission in April 2021 and divides AI systems into four categories according to the risk they present to society.
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