Musk talks about artificial intelligence: support corresponding supervision
Image source: Visual China Reporter Cui Puyu Reporter Cui Puyu The European Union on Wednesday announced a series of strict regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence, including restrictions on the use of facial recognition software by the police in public places. This has become one of the most extensive actions in this regard so far. According to the proposal published by the European Commission (the EU executive agency), the use of artificial intelligence in a series of activities will be restricted, including autonomous vehicles, bank loan applications, university admissions, and examination scoring. It will also cover the use of artificial intelligence by law enforcement systems and courts, an area that is often regarded as “high risk” because it may threaten people’s safety or basic rights. Some uses will be completely banned, including real-time facial recognition in public places. However, for national security or other purposes, there may be some exemptions, such as to prevent terrorist attacks, find missing children, or resolve other public safety emergencies. If the 108-page proposal is passed, it will not only have a profound impact on large technology companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. These companies have invested a lot of resources in the development of artificial intelligence; at the same time, they will also invest in the use of this technology for research and development. Drugs, underwriting insurance, and other companies that judge creditworthiness have had an impact. 
According to this proposal, companies that violate the new regulations will face fines of up to 6% of their global sales.
Over the past ten years, the EU has been the most active in the world in terms of technology industry regulation, and its regulatory policies are often used as templates by other countries. The 27-nation group has promulgated the world’s most influential data privacy bill, and is discussing other antitrust and content review regulations.
European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said that the regulatory regulations address the risks that artificial intelligence poses to humans and society in certain special applications. “We think this is an emergency, and we are the first on this planet to propose this legal framework.”
Some digital rights activists welcomed some of the regulations, but pointed out that some other factors seemed too vague, and there were too many loopholes to be drilled. Some people in the industry believe that EU regulations will benefit Chinese companies because the latter do not have to face the constraints of similar regulations.
Benjamin Mueller, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation, a technology think tank, pointed out that regulations will make the cost of research and development of artificial intelligence in Europe too high, or even technically infeasible. “When the European Union suppresses its own start-ups, the United States and China will watch happily on the sidelines.”
However, some lobbyists in the technology industry believe that the proposal is not so harsh and feel relieved. They praised some clauses, such as strictly regulating only certain types of so-called high-risk artificial intelligence applications.
Christian Borggreen, vice chairman of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, pointed out that the European Commission has adopted a risk-based approach, which is good. The association represents a number of technology giants including Amazon, Facebook and Google.
However, Wednesday’s proposal still has a long way to go before it becomes law and may be adjusted. In the European Union, such laws must be approved by the European Council, which represents the governments of the EU’s 27 countries, and the directly elected European Parliament. The entire process may take several years.
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