The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an interview with Nikkei News on April 24 that the EU wants to agree on regulatory rules for generative AI such as ChatGPT as soon as this year, “the sooner the better”.
According to Vestager, the EU is proposing to require companies offering generative AI services to explain the reasons for their decisions and their ethical standards. In addition, Vestager proposed the idea of labelling content generated by AI, such as text, as “made by AI”.
Generative AI is an artificial intelligence technology that learns from data and creates new content and has attracted a lot of attention and discussion in recent years. It has enormous potential and challenges and could have far-reaching implications for the creative industries, social security and human rights, among other areas.
Relevant reports and learned that the EU Parliament is considering a three-tier regulatory scheme, targeting the value chain, underlying models and specific content of generative AI respectively. Specifically, the first tier of rules would apply to all general purpose AI (GPAI), regardless of size or model type, and would primarily regulate the responsibilities and obligations between providers and users of generative AI. The second tier of rules will apply to base models, i.e. those generative AI models that are powerful and general purpose, requiring their providers to adhere to certain transparency, quality and accountability requirements prior to launch and during use. The third tier of rules would apply to specific types of generative AI content, such as large language models or AI that generates art and music, requiring their providers to comply with certain specific restrictions and requirements in terms of content generation, such as preventing issues such as causing disinformation, defamation or copyright infringement.
The EU Parliament said that this layered regulatory scheme aims to ensure that generative AI can develop in line with human values, safety and trustworthiness, and to avoid it evading regulation or posing unforeseen risks. At the same time, the EU Parliament called on other countries and regions to join in international cooperation to develop some basic principles and standards to govern generative AI.
Generative AI is one of the most cutting-edge and controversial technologies in the field of artificial intelligence, which can not only increase efficiency and productivity but also unleash creativity and imagination. However, it can also pose ethical, legal and social challenges and needs to be used carefully and responsibly.
