EU: The Artificial Intelligence Act Finally Adopted, the First of Its Kind in the World

The Council of the European Union confirmed the Artificial Intelligence Act on Tuesday, the first such law in the world that could set a global standard for regulating artificial intelligence.

The aim of the new law is to promote the development and acceptance of safe and reliable artificial intelligence systems in the EU’s single market.

At the same time, it aims to ensure respect for the fundamental rights of EU citizens and to encourage investment and innovation in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe.

The Artificial Intelligence Act applies only to areas covered by EU legislation and provides for exemptions such as systems used exclusively for military and defense purposes and for research purposes. The law follows a ‘risk-based’ approach, meaning that the rules are stricter the higher the risk of harm to society.

‘This law, the first of its kind in the world, is a milestone for the EU and addresses global technological challenges that create opportunities for our societies and economies,’ said Belgian Secretary of State for Digitalization Mathieu Michel.

The Council’s decision followed the same law being voted on in the European Parliament on March 13. The new law is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU in the coming days and will come into force 20 days after publication. The regulation will start to apply two years after it comes into force, with some exceptions for certain provisions of the law.

The new law distinguishes four types of artificial intelligence according to the risks they pose. Artificial intelligence systems with very limited risk, such as video games or spam filters, will only have to meet mild transparency regulations, while high-risk artificial intelligence systems will have to meet a range of requirements and obligations to be approved in the EU market.

The law prohibits artificial intelligence systems that socially evaluate individuals and categorize them into specific categories – based on gender, gender identity, race, ethnic origin, migration status, citizenship, political belief, sexual orientation, religion, and similar.

Artificial intelligence considered to pose unacceptable risk includes storing photographs of facial representations from the internet or CCTV footage, emotion recognition recordings in workplaces and schools, social scoring, and predictive policing based solely on profiling individuals. Citizens will be able to file complaints against AI systems that threaten their rights.

To ensure the proper implementation of the new law, the establishment of several bodies is planned, such as an office for artificial intelligence within the Commission, a scientific panel of independent experts to support implementation activities, and others.