The European Commission’s proposal on how to regulate the use of AI – artificial intelligence – is based, among other things, on dividing the areas of use into risk levels, where some things are prohibited completely and others must be surrounded by strict conditions.
This has led to long discussions between the member states to find a balance between what should be allowed for whom.
Minister of Civil Affairs Erik Slottner (KD) is satisfied with the settlement that has now been reached at Tuesday’s telecom ministerial meeting in Brussels.
— It will make it easier to develop AI within the Union. It will strengthen the Union’s competitiveness and thereby Sweden’s competitiveness, says Slottner.
Worried police officers
During the time that the issue has been dealt with since the proposal was made in the spring of last year, there have been concerns, among other things, among the police and the judiciary that the rules would make it more difficult for law enforcement.
However, the settlement states that “several changes have been made to the terms of use of AI systems for law enforcement”.
— This is exactly what has been weighed and arrived at a solution where we now agree that you must respect human rights, people’s integrity, but still be able to use AI as a way to fight organized crime. Erik Slottner believes that this is a big step forward.
Concerned consumers
However, the organization Beuc, which brings together a number of European consumer organisations, is critical.
“EU member states are failing consumers. . . National governments are failing to increase protection from harmful AI systems, such as facial recognition performed by private companies in publicly accessible places,” writes Ursula Pachl from Beuc in a press release.
There is also criticism within the EU Parliament, which has not yet agreed on its view of the Commission’s proposal.
Once that has been done, compromise negotiations await with the member states in the Council of Ministers, tentatively already during Sweden’s presidency this spring.