A mini-guide to the E.U.’’s new Artificial Intelligence and Data Regulation plan
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants Europe to have the capability to make its own choices, based on its values, respecting its own rules when it comes to data and AI.
The European Union has fresh thoughts about how it could try to keep up with America and China on A.I.— and it may shape global thinking on how technology is regulated in the procedure.
The European Commission (E.C.)released a bundle of suggestions for Europe’s digital future on February, 19th 2020, including a new data plan along with a white paper on A.I.
The proposals would lead to changes in the way data is collected and shared in an effort to level the playing field between European companies and competitors from the U.S. and China. The E.C. wants to prevent potential abuses while also building confidence among citizens in order to reap the benefits promised by the technology.
Among other topics, there will be regulations of cutting edge applications of Artificial Intelligence, and the unified European data market.
The lait motif, as placed out from an op-ed by E.C. President Ursula von der Leyen, is working to provide Europe with the capability to make its own decisions, based on its values, respecting its rules on A.I.
The E.C. did disclose plans to spend almost $21 billion on A.I. and data research programs, as well as the platforms that may eventually allow for the pooling of data envisaged by the Commission. It may sound an impressive amount of money but isn’t going to put the E.U. on a level of investment in the U.S. or China.
“Given the major impact that AI can have on our society and the need to build trust, it is vital that European AI is grounded in our values and fundamental rights such as human dignity and privacy protection. Furthermore, the impact of AI systems should be considered not only from an individual perspective but also from the perspective of society as a whole.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
But Europe’s regulations could, in the process, have a worldwide impact.
Von der Leyen promised to initiate A.I. legislation within 100 days of taking office. The A.I. white paper published today is a set of proposed approaches that could change considerably before becoming law.
It was presented as a kind of roadmap for several rules that need to be adopted in the next years.
However, precisely what do these proposals for what Europe should do mean? Let’s have a look.
Artificial Intelligence is the future.
Although AI has been labeled critical to economic survival, Europe is perceived as slipping behind the U.S. where development is being led by tech giants and China, where the central government is leading the push.
With its latest digital strategy, the E.C. wants to encourage more cooperation between the public and private sectors. The plans call for finally creating a digital single market across the continent, a goal the E.C. has been pursuing for years with only limited results.
The E.U. sees enormous potentialities in A.I. : to enhance people’s lives through improving effectiveness in areas like healthcare, agriculture, and engineering, and it is a catalyst for economic growth.
However, it knows that American and Chinese tech giants are ahead of the race, and they have to figure out ways to drive investment to grab.
The white paper proposes a way in: concentrating on industrial, business, and public sector data that will end up being stored and processed on devices at the edge of the network, rather than in the cloud.
This approach opens up new opportunities for Europe that includes a dominant position in the digitized industry and business-to-business software, but a relatively weak spot in consumer platforms that the Artificial Intelligence white newspaper notes.
No facial recognition ban, for now.
A draft of the A.I. paper that leaked in January recommended a provisional ban on facial recognition technologies in public places to provide governments time to define how to use it ethically and safely.
While uses like unlocking a smartphone are seen as relatively safe, the commission warns that using facial recognition to remotely identify people may pose human rights risks. Currently, such facial recognition use is allowed in Europe under very limited exceptions when there is deemed to be a heavy public interest.
This topic didn’t wind up in the published documents this week; instead, the white paper states that the Commission may establish a broad European discussion on the particular conditions, if any, which may require the implementation of facial recognition technologies for identifying people in public areas.
It seems that the E.C. is likely to take regulation within this region seriously, rather than attempting to roll out strategies to satisfy deadlines.
Data is the new oil for Europe.
Finally, Europe started to think about its data strategy seriously, recognizing that only a small number of big tech firms hold a vast amount of the world’s data right now, and that is an issue since it can reduce the incentives for European data-driven companies to develop, evolve and innovate at the continent.
So the E.C. lays plans to attempt to promote local investment and foster the evolution of local players, including incentivizing data sharing between European companies with an emphasis on the industrial and business data that doesn’t run afoul of the E.C.’s strong privacy protections.
Leading these programs is the creation of the European data space, a genuine single market for data that is open to information from anywhere but regulated by European rules and values, including severe personal and consumer data protections.
Promoting the sharing of this data within a structured marketplace may also encourage transparency, which may help Europe more efficiently govern information.
Europe also wants to assess the potential risks of Artificial Intelligence.
Probably the most prominent regulatory principle in the proposal is the introduction of a compulsory measurement platform for A.I. software E.C. considers high risk, particularly those with notable human rights implications, such as government use of facial recognition or predictive policing algorithms.
The Commission is inspired here by compliance assessment mechanisms that currently exist for a significant number of items being placed on the E.C.’s internal market like cars and chemicals.
The proposal lays out two essential standards for what it considers a” high risk” use of A.I. First, is it being set up in an industry where there could be significant risks, like health, energy, or transportation? Secondly, can it be a system that may affect security?
Also, the document suggests a light touch for safe data uses to avoid inhibiting innovation.
None of that can be defined; however, it can have a global impact on how A.I. will be developed and how data will be governed in Europe and for large tech companies who have pushed their vision of their future to get ahead of A.I regulation that may signify a crucial moment.
The A.I. white paper is open for comment until May 19, along with the Commission can also be accepting feedback on the data plan.
Conclusion
A.I. is moving at such a pace that we need to regulate. However, one of the major issues is that when creating A.I. , there is considerable input by humans, and humans are naturally prone to having all sorts of bias.
A.I. And machine learning data are only as good as the data you feed it, so the regulation of this needs to start at the earliest stages.
Regulation, however, will be complicated to follow through with, especially as much of this won’t be relevant to the rest of the world.”
The E.C. can hardly be counted as one of the data industry’s big winners, with its tech firms more often than not playing second fiddle to rivals from the U.S. and China, but the E.C., with this initiative, wants to change that.
This is an early stage of a long story, but Europe seems to be prepared to dive into A.I. , and that could mean the rest of the world soon follows, for the good of humanity, I hope!