The European Union on Wednesday announced the creation of an “Artificial Intelligence Office” made up of technical experts, lawyers and economists to regulate artificial intelligence under a sweeping novel law.
This year, the EU approved the world’s first comprehensive rules to regulate artificial intelligence, especially powerful systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, after long and intense negotiations.
First proposed in 2021, the block was rushing to get law on the books after ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2022, surprising users with its ability to produce consistent text, including lines, in a matter of seconds .
“The Artificial Intelligence Office aims to enable the future development, deployment and exploit of artificial intelligence in a way that promotes social and economic benefits and innovation, while mitigating risks,” the European Commission said.
The commission will create a 140-member AI Office, which is the EU’s executive arm as well as the bloc’s powerful technology regulator.
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“The office will support a European artificial intelligence ecosystem that is creative, competitive and respects EU principles and values,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s leading technology law enforcer.
The EU law known as the ‘Artificial Intelligence Law’ includes stricter rules on general-purpose AI systems such as ChatGPT and takes a risk-based approach to the technology.
The higher the risk to the rights or health of Europeans, the greater the obligations of systems to protect citizens from harm.
“Together with developers and the research community, the office will assess and test general-purpose AI to ensure that AI serves us as humans and upholds our European values,” said Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager.
Companies will have to comply with EU law by 2026, but rules on artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT will come into force 12 months after the law enters into force.
The EU’s announcement came on the same day that EU auditors criticized the Commission for not investing enough in artificial intelligence to achieve the bloc’s ambitions.
“Going forward, stronger governance and more – and better targeted – public and private investment in the EU will be paramount if the EU is to achieve its artificial intelligence ambitions,” the bloc’s spending watchdog said.
However, the commission defended the bloc’s record, saying it invests more than one billion euros ($1.1 billion) annually in artificial intelligence research projects under various programs.
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