Artificial Intelligence is a reality in the daily life of any consultancy or law firm, which is why, at the beginning of December 2023, the European Union reached a historic milestone in the European Union as the first regulations on Artificial Intelligence were agreed upon, which, although provisional in nature , is expected to come into full force in a couple of weeks , thus becoming the first Law on Artificial Intelligence .
What are the aims of this regulation?
The aim is to regulate Artificial Intelligence in its entirety, in such a way that, for the first time in history, a unanimous definition of what is meant by AI is included. In this regard, precepts are added that will delve into a classification or what are the prohibited practices.
The different levels of risk in the field of Artificial Intelligence, a priori and taking into account that the regulations have not yet come into force, would be the following:
On the one hand, those that are subject to European Union legislation on product safety (see: toys)
On the other hand, those belonging to the following specific branches, which must be registered in a database of the European Union:
- Biometric identification and categorization of natural persons (again, article 3 of the aforementioned regulations).
- Management and operation of critical infrastructures.
- Education and vocational training.
- Employment, worker management and access to self-employment.
- Access and enjoyment of essential private services and public services and benefits.
- Law enforcement.
- Migration, asylum and border control management.
- Assistance in legal interpretation and application of the law.
Thirdly, there is Generative Intelligence, highlighting the well-known ChatGPT , which must comply with transparency requirements such as indicating that the content comes from Artificial Intelligence, developing a system that does not produce prohibited content...
In the event that very powerful models are used that may lead to systematic risks, additional obligations will be established in their management, as well as their evaluation and testing, all with the aim of guaranteeing cybersecurity and reporting on their energy efficiency.
And, fourthly, the so-called limited risk , where a series of transparency conditions must be met, among which we can mention Artificial Intelligence systems that manipulate content such as images, audios or videos (see: deepfakes ).
The main aim, therefore, is to protect citizens, thereby guaranteeing developers a code of good practice on Artificial Intelligence. This was conveyed by the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas: “ It is a very good law that will promote innovation in a way that is compatible with fundamental rights .”
Furthermore, the legislation delves into Intellectual Property, that is, into Copyright, because it is a complex issue, establishing the new regulations that: “ the GPAI systems and models on which they are based would have to comply with the transparency requirements initially proposed by Parliament ” , as well as “ the preparation of technical documentation, compliance with EU copyright regulations and the dissemination of detailed summaries of the content used in training ”.
Is there any country that has already regulated Artificial Intelligence?
There are some countries that have already initiated their proposals to regulate Artificial Intelligence, such as Argentina, Brazil or China, while, in the case of China, they already have their regulations in force (that is, the so-called self-regulation ).
Also, the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico, given technological development, have decided to begin developing their regulations on Artificial Intelligence.
In this regard, in the case of the United States, at the end of October 2023, Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on the safe and reliable development and use of Artificial Intelligence.
Is there any Spanish ruling on Artificial Intelligence?
Yes, and among others, there is the Judgment of the Supreme Court, Contentious-Administrative Chamber, of March 10, 2022, which refers to Artificial Intelligence and indicates, among other relevant points: That, the General Directorate of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence will exercise, without prejudice to the powers attributed to the National Institute of Statistics, the normative development, ethical aspects and regulation in the field of Artificial Intelligence and other digital enabling technologies for the transformation of the economy and society.
