Artificial Intelligence Act
The Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) is a European Union regulation on artificial intelligence (AI) in the European Union. Proposed by the European Commission on 21 April 2021 and passed on 13 March 2024, it aims to establish a common regulatory and legal framework for AI.
| European Union regulation | |
| Preparative texts | |
|---|---|
| Commission proposal | 2021/206 |
Its scope would encompass all types of AI in a broad range of sectors (exceptions include AI systems used solely for military, national security, research, and non-professional purpose). As a piece of product regulation, it would not confer rights on individuals, but would regulate the providers of AI systems, and entities using AI in a professional context.
The AI Act was revised following the rise in popularity of generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, whose general-purpose capabilities present different stakes and did not fit the defined framework. More restrictive regulations are planned for powerful generative AI systems with systemic impact.
The proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act aims to classify and regulate AI applications based on their risk to cause harm. This classification includes four categories of risk ("unacceptable", "high", "limited" and "minimal"), plus one additional category for general-purpose AI. Applications deemed to represent unacceptable risks are banned. High-risk ones must comply to security, transparency and quality obligations and undergo conformity assessments. Limited-risk AI applications only have transparency obligations, and those representing minimal risks are not regulated. For general-purpose AI, transparency requirements are imposed, with additional and thorough evaluations when representing particularly high risks.
The Act further proposes the introduction of a European Artificial Intelligence Board to promote national cooperation and ensure compliance with the regulation.
The AI Act is expected to have a large impact on the economy. Like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, it can apply extraterritorially to providers from outside the EU, if they have products within the EU.