Questions and answers

What the EU’s new AI rules mean in concrete terms

With the "AI Act", the EU wants to clearly regulate the interaction between humans and machines.

(Bild: top images - stock.adobe.com)

The EU law on artificial intelligence (AI) has been in force since Thursday. The member states have two years to transpose it into national law. The law will regulate AI more strictly and uniformly. The aim is to better protect fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law.

But what does the new law mean in detail and what exactly does it regulate? Krone.at has the most important questions and answers for you:

What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence usually refers to applications based on machine learning, in which software searches through large amounts of data for matches and draws conclusions from them. This allows human abilities such as logical thinking, learning, planning and creativity to be imitated. This enables machines to perceive and react to their environment, for example.

AI is already being used in many areas. For example, such programs can evaluate computer tomography images faster and with greater accuracy than humans. Self-driving cars, on the other hand, try to predict the behavior of other road users. And chatbots or automatic playlists from streaming services also work with AI.

Why is such a law needed in the EU?
The law aims to make the use of AI safer in the European Union. It is intended to ensure that AI systems are as transparent, comprehensible, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly as possible. An important aspect is that AI systems are monitored by humans and not just by other technologies.

The ChatGPT text robot from OpenAI has set off a veritable AI hype.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

What rules does the law contain?
The regulations provide for AI applications to be categorized into different risk groups. Systems that are considered particularly high-risk and are used in critical infrastructures or in the education and healthcare sectors, for example, must meet strict requirements. Applications with a lower risk are subject to fewer obligations.

AI applications that violate EU values will also be banned altogether. This includes the evaluation of social behavior ("social scoring"). In China, this is used to classify citizens into behavioral categories.

What does it mean for consumers?
The law aims to better protect consumers from risky AI applications. For example, facial recognition in public spaces - such as through video surveillance in public places - will generally not be permitted. The law will also prohibit emotion recognition in the workplace and in educational institutions in the EU.

AI applications must also be labeled more transparently. This should make it easier for consumers to recognize which programs use artificial intelligence. Private individuals who discover breaches of the regulations can complain to national authorities.

What exactly will change from August 1?
Not that much at first. The AI Act is to take effect gradually. Some regulations must then be implemented promptly by the member states - such as the ban on AI systems that pose "unacceptable risks". These are systems that are classified as a threat to humans. Their ban applies after just six months.

A code of conduct for providers of AI models is to be finalized by April next year, as the EU Commission announced before the law came into force.

After two years, most of the points in the law will have to be fully implemented. High-risk systems, on the other hand, will have more time to meet the requirements. The obligations relating to them will apply after three years.

What happens if someone does not comply with the rules?
Violations can result in severe penalties: up to 35 million euros for the use of prohibited technology or - in the case of companies - up to seven percent of the global annual turnover of the previous financial year. However, the exact penalty must be determined by the countries within this framework, as the Commission announced.

Other violations of the law can result in fines of up to 15 million euros or - in the case of companies - up to three percent of the worldwide annual turnover of the previous financial year.

Is there any criticism of the law?
Experts have recently repeatedly discussed whether the law will give AI a boost or perhaps even slow down its development. This also depends on how the regulations are ultimately implemented in the individual countries.

In addition, many requirements could soon become outdated again due to the rapid technical development of AI applications and the gradual implementation of the regulations. The Commission has announced that it will carry out an annual review to determine whether the list of "high-risk" applications needs to be revised or expanded.