In the area of artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, Europe has made a significant step forward with the adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Act (known as the AI Act) by the European Parliament. This law, the result of negotiations with member states concluded in December 2023, marks a historic moment in the regulation of AI, placing the EU at the forefront in creating a framework that aims to guarantee safety and respect for fundamental rights, while stimulating innovation.
Safety and fundamental rights at the forefront of the AI Act
With 523 votes in favor, 46 against and 49 abstentions, the Artificial Intelligence Act aims to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from the risks posed by AI at high risk, while promoting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field. The regulation establishes specific obligations for AI based on its potential risks and level of impact.
Prohibited Applications and Restrictions
The new rules prohibit specific AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, including biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics and the untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or surveillance cameras to create facial recognition databases. Emotion recognition in the workplace and in schools, social scoring, predictive policing (when it is based exclusively on profiling a person or evaluating their characteristics) and AI that manipulates human behavior or exploits will also be prohibited. people’s vulnerabilities.
AI Act: Exemptions for Law Enforcement
In principle, the use of biometric identification systems by law enforcement is prohibited, except in expressly listed and narrowly defined situations. “Real-time” use may only be authorized if strict safeguards are met, such as time and geographic restrictions and prior specific judicial or administrative authorization. Such uses may include, for example, the targeted search for a missing person or the prevention of a terrorist attack.
Obligations for high-risk systems
There are also clear obligations for other high-risk AI systems (due to their significant potential harm to health, security, fundamental rights, the environment, democracy and the rule of law). These include critical infrastructure, vocational education and training, employment, private and public essential services (e.g. healthcare, banking), some systems in law enforcement, migration and border management, justice and democratic processes. Such systems must assess and reduce risks, maintain records of use, be transparent and accurate, and ensure human oversight. Citizens will have the right to lodge complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that affect their rights.
Transparency requirements and support for innovation within the AI Act
General-purpose AI systems, and the GPAI models on which they are based, must meet certain transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and the publication of detailed summaries of the content used for training. More powerful GPAI models, which may present systemic risks, will face additional requirements, including model evaluation, systemic risk assessment and mitigation, and incident reporting.
Next steps
The regulation is still subject to a final legal-linguistic check and it is expected that it will be definitively adopted before the end of the legislature. The law must also be formally approved by the Council. It will come into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal, and will be fully applicable 24 months after its entry into force, with the exception of: prohibitions on prohibited practices, which will apply six months after the date of entry into force; codes of practice (nine months after entry into force); general purpose AI rules including governance (12 months after entry into force); and obligations for high-risk systems (36 months).
With the Artificial Intelligence Act, the European Union establishes a model for AI governance that balances innovation with the protection of fundamental rights and safety, demonstrating a proactive and forward-looking approach in regulating emerging technologies.