A new legal critique of the European Union’s draft ‘AI Act’ levels a wide array of criticisms at the proposed regulations released i

The Failings of the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act

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2021-07-09 15:00:08

A new legal critique of the European Union’s draft ‘AI Act’ levels a wide array of criticisms at the proposed regulations released in April, concluding that much of the document is ‘stitched together’ from scarcely applicable 1980s consumer regulation; that it actually promotes a deregulated AI environment in Europe, rather than bringing the sector under coherent regulation; and – among a slew of other criticisms – that the proposals map out a future regulatory AI framework that has ‘little sense and impact’.

Entitled Demystifying the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the pre-print is a collaboration between researchers from UCL London and Radboud University in Nijmegen.

The paper adds to a growing body of negative opinion about the proposed implementation (rather than the much-admired intent) of a regulatory AI framework, including the contention in April of one of the draft regulation’s own contributors that the proposed guidelines are ‘lukewarm, short-sighted and deliberately vague’, which characterized the European Commission’s document as a proponent of ‘fake ethics’.

The new paper contends that the AI Act’s proposed restrictions on ‘manipulative systems’ is hamstrung by a vague and even contradictory definition of ‘harm’, commenting that ‘[a] cynic might feel the Commission is more interested in prohibitions’ rhetorical value than practical effect’.