philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The Guild puts out statement on the Artificial Intelligence Act

[PhilNote: The Guild is an organization of European Research-intensive Universities.]

... The Guild voices its concerns on the burdens the European Commission’s proposal for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act may impose on research and researchers and calls for the Commission to involve researchers in the future monitoring and amendment processes of the Act. ...

To address the possible concerns, The Guild proposes the following recommendations:

• Establish a high-level expert group, composed of academic researchers among others, which would advise on whether any technological progress requires an amendment to the annex or to the body text of the AI Act
• Set up regulatory frameworks that explicitly ban jeopardizing practices, such as social scoring and exploitation of the vulnerabilities of a specific group of persons, instead of banning AI technologies which may be used for these practices
• Give the European Artificial Intelligence Board the mandate to ensure the harmonised implementation of the AI Act in the member states
• Ensure that the AI Act does not result in the blanket prohibition of some AI systems, which would prevent their use even for the purpose of research activities
• Ensure that universities can act as ‘regulatory sandboxes’ and test AI systems in safe environments, and support research projects aimed at elucidating the concepts introduced in the AI Act and finding how AI developers can concretely comply with the Act

Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, commented: “The AI Act is a cornerstone of EU regulation not only in an area of crucial strategic and commercial importance. It also relates to a central arena of scientific research and research-led innovation. If the EU wants to lead a global transformation in Artificial Intelligence, it must respect and support the needs of researchers.”

See the full story here: https://sciencebusiness.net/network-updates/guild-puts-out-statement-artificial-intelligence-act