EU Member States Agree on Landmark Artificial Intelligence Legislation

The member states of the European Union agreed yesterday Friday on unprecedented legislation at the global level to regulate artificial intelligence after intense negotiations regarding the balance between innovation and security, according to the French news agency.

Ambassadors of the twenty-seven countries announced “unanimously” the agreement reached in December last year between the states and members of the European Parliament, as announced by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The European Commission had presented its draft titled “Artificial Intelligence Act” in April 2021, and it gained prominence with the emergence of the “GPT Chat” program developed by the startup “OpenAI” in California at the end of 2022, providing a new dimension that accelerated discussions.

This system, similar to other systems capable of generating voices, images, or texts, revealed to users the immense potential of artificial intelligence. However, this technology also comes with various risks, including the dissemination of highly realistic fake images, raising concerns about the significant potential for manipulating public opinion.

Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner responsible for this dossier, welcomed the “historic and unprecedented legislation at the global level,” stating, “The Artificial Intelligence Act has generated significant interest for valid reasons. Today, the states have agreed on the political agreement issued in December, acknowledging the ideal balance found by negotiators between innovation and security.”