EU lawmakers challenge generative AI and ChatGPT
Generative AI has recently become a topic of concern among EU lawmakers responsible for regulating artificial intelligence technologies. Despite the lack of focus given on generative AI in the bloc's 108-page proposal for the AI Act published two years earlier, EU lawmakers now recognize the implications of this technology and are updating their rules to keep up with its explosion of interest.
Four lawmakers and two other sources close to discussions have revealed in interviews how a small group of politicians hammered out new draft legislation that could become landmark legislation for generative AI. The legislation identified copyright protection as a core piece of the effort to keep AI in check, reshaping the regulatory landscape for OpenAI and its competitors.
Since launching in November, ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, has become the fastest growing app in history, sparking a flurry of activity from Big Tech and investment in generative AI startups. However, the runaway popularity of ChatGPT and similar applications has led EU industry chief Thierry Breton and others to call for regulation. Elon Musk's backed organization has issued a letter calling for stricter regulations, warning of existential risk from AI.
On April 17, a dozen MEPs involved in drafting the legislation signed an open letter agreeing with some parts of Musk's letter. They urged world leaders to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced AI.
Two of the MEPs proposed changes that would force companies with generative AI systems to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their models, receiving cross-party support. However, one proposal forcing companies to request permission from rights holders before using the data was rejected as too restrictive.
The EU has outlined proposed laws that could force an uncomfortable level of transparency on a notoriously secretive industry. The committee will vote on the deal on May 11 and if successful, it will advance to the next stage of negotiation, the trilogue, where EU member states will debate the contents with the European Commission and Parliament.
Under new proposals targeting "foundation models," companies like OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft Corp, would have to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their systems. Claims of copyright infringement have rankled AI firms in recent months with Getty Images suing Stable Diffusion for using copyrighted photos to train its systems. OpenAI has also faced criticism for refusing to share details of the dataset used to train its software.
The final compromise is innovation-friendly as it does not classify these models as 'high risk,' but sets requirements for transparency and quality. It remains to be seen whether the deal will hold until the committee vote on May 11th.
