The European Union recently passed a ground-breaking law to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI). The move has been taken to limit its use in businesses and organizations in Europe for everything from health care decisions to policing. Notably, this is first-of-its-own kind of comprehensive AI law in the world.The law imposes blanket-bans on some unacceptable uses of the technology while enacting stiff guardrails for other applications deemed high-risk to strike. It will create a balance between encouraging the development of beneficial AI and mitigating potential risks.Here are some key points:Risk-based approachAI systems are classified based on their risk level. High-risk systems, like those used in facial recognition or social scoring, face stricter regulations.Bans to interpret the emotionsThe law not only bans the use of AI to interpret the emotions of people in schools and workplaces, but also restrict some types of automated profiling intended to predict a persons likelihood of committing future crimes.Certain AI uses are bannedThis includes AI for social manipulation, scoring people based on their trustworthiness, and real-time mass surveillance. It also mandates that all deepfakes created by AI be properly labeled, addressing worries about altered media that may result in misinformation and electoral tampering.Transparency and accountabilityCompanies will need to be more transparent about how their AI systems work and ensure they dont discriminate.This law is expected to be in full effect by mid-2026. It will be interesting to see how it impacts the development and use of AI in Europe and around the world.
