What IT leaders need to know about the EU AI Act
Still, organizations can’t just ignore the AI revolution to avoid the regulations, Carlsson adds. “Using these technologies is not optional, and every organization must increase their use of AI in order to survive and thrive,” he says.
Still, organizations can’t just ignore the AI revolution to avoid the regulations, Carlsson adds. “Using these technologies is not optional, and every organization must increase their use of AI in order to survive and thrive,” he says.
What’s in the legislation?
The EU AI Act is broad, comprising 458 pages, but it covers three major areas:
Banned uses of AI: The regulations ban AI applications that threaten human rights, including biometric categorization systems based on sensitive physical characteristics. The untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or security footage to create facial recognition databases is also prohibited.
The law would also ban AI systems that monitor employee or student emotions, conduct social scoring, or engage in predictive policing based on a person’s profile or characteristics. Also prohibited are AI systems that manipulate human behavior or exploit people’s vulnerabilities.
Obligations for high-risk AI systems: Organizations usingAI tools that create significant potential harm to health, safety, human rights, the environment, democracy, and the rule of law are also regulated. They must conduct risk assessments, take steps to reduce risk, maintain use logs, comply with transparency requirements, and ensure human oversight. EU residents will have a right to submit complaints about high-risk AI systems and receive explanations about decisions.
Examples of high-risk systems include AIs used in critical infrastructure, education and vocational training, employment decisions, healthcare, banking, and those that could influence elections. Some law enforcement and border control agency uses of AI will be regulated.
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