Time will tell whether we have changed the history of Europe or once again we have crushed innovative companies and organizations in the face of rules that cannot compete with the rest of the countries.

The European Parliament has approved the European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. According to what I have read in the press, the regulation is a historic landmark, an important fact that will mark the future of innovation in artificial intelligence, at least in terms of the European Union, and will show the way to other countries in their regulations.

However, there are many voices that believe that everything is not so beautiful or should not be celebrated. They believe that the old Europe is once again being locked in the face of the world's superpowers and their all-powerful multinationals, who will allow it to develop without so much scruples or loopholes in the face of the supposed dangers of Artificial Intelligence, and then ban or regulate whatever is convenient. In other words, they will eat their cake again, albeit a poisoned cake, rather than stab Julius Caesar and turn this AA into an emperor who rules Rome with an iron fist and suppresses the basic rights of the citizens. So is the European Union doing well? Should we congratulate ourselves on this historic milestone? It will be the time that will decide whether we have changed the history of Rome (Europe) or whether we have once again crushed innovative European companies and institutions, faced with rules that cannot compete with the rest of the world.

Against this background, what the European Union has accepted (and unless you really know the final text) is not to regulate technology in the strict sense, but the uses that can be given to artificial intelligence. Quickly, and certainly without going into detailing a complex regulation, we will say that, in addition to establishing a clear definition for the entire European Union of what the Artificial Intelligence system is, there will be certain uses that will be directly prohibited in our region.

Artificial Intelligences are considered to be of unacceptable risk, so they will be prohibited, such as those related to social scoring of people, their manipulation, real-time and remote recognition of emotions or face recognition at work, and others. Uses that will be of high risk (such as those related to the critical infrastructure of states, or those aimed at educational and/or professional fields and determining access to them, etc.) or low risk (such as many of the Creative Artificial Intelligences we know today) of the uses of that AA depends Developers or companies that want to implement AA technology will need to conduct a risk analysis before implementation.

Of course, the regulations also include significant penalties of millions of euros for organizations that do not comply with these regulations. Biometrics has been a battle horse during the negotiation phase of the regulation, the use of this technology by both countries and companies for security issues, the identification of people in real time and with the different uses that are made. We have seen many episodes of "Black Mirror" in Europe to try to anticipate the apocalyptic events that took place in the series.

We are certainly at a very early stage in the development of AA and perhaps it is time to stop and consider how we as a society, or rather almost as humanity, want to live with the algorithms that, if given their freedom, will have an impact, surpassing the various industrial revolutions that have taken place. that we have in our lives.

Protect the citizens

Parliament passed the Artificial Intelligence Act, which ensures safety and respect for fundamental rights while promoting innovation.

The Regulation agreed in the negotiations with the member states in December 2023 was approved by the European Parliament with 523 votes in favor, 46 against and 49 abstentions.

It aims to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AA, encouraging innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the sector. The regulation imposes certain obligations on the AA, depending on the risks and the level of impact.

Prohibited applications

The new rules prohibit certain applications of artificial intelligence that violate citizens' rights, such as biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics and the indiscriminate capture of facial images from the Internet or recordings from surveillance cameras to create recognition databases. Emotion recognition in the workplace and schools, citizen rating systems, predictive policing (when based solely on a person's profile or assessment of their characteristics) and AA that manipulate human behavior or exploit people's vulnerabilities.

Exceptions for Security Forces

The Security ForcesThe use of biometric authentication systems is prohibited, except in very specific and well-defined situations. "Real-time" biometric identification systems can only be used if strict safeguards are met. For example, use is limited to a specific time and place and prior judicial or administrative authorization is required. In these cases, they can be the selective search for a missing person or the prevention of a terrorist attack. Using these systems after the fact is considered a high-risk use and requires judicial authorization as it is linked to a crime.