European Data Protection Board creates task force on ChatGPT after ban in Italy
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has formed a task force to discuss OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot after it was banned in Italy. The decision was made after a request from Spain earlier this week. Italy became the first country to ban ChatGPT, accusing OpenAI of stealing data from users in the country, and also claimed the chatbot did not have an age-verification system to prevent minors from accessing illicit material.
The EDPB stated that it will launch a dedicated task force to foster co-operation and exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities. The Board consists of national data protection authorities and watchdogs from different European countries and is responsible for supervising data protection regulations within the European Union.
Reports suggest the chatbot will only be allowed to operate if it follows general policies that are transparent. An unnamed national watchdog was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying EDPB countries were trying to align their policy positions on ChatGPT, but that it would take time. In the meantime, the German data protection commissioner has also said that a similar ban could be placed on the chatbot in the country.
ChatGPT, which was released by Microsoft-backed OpenAI in November 2020, has human-like abilities and can compose a poem, write a code, and even give solutions to the biggest ethical dilemmas of life with just an input. Since its launch, there has been a race in the artificial intelligence segment between Microsoft and Google. OpenAI has since released the latest iteration of the language model powering ChatGPT called GPT-4, which is supposed to be much more creative, reliable and nuanced than its predecessor.
