AI news was marked by an urgent call from consumer protection groups in the European Union and the United States. These groups are imploring regulators to investigate the type of artificial intelligence that powers systems like ChatGPT due to risks that leave people vulnerable. This plea comes amidst a delay before the EU’s groundbreaking AI regulations take effect.
In a coordinated effort, thirteen watchdog groups expressed their concerns to their national consumer, data protection, competition, and product safety authorities. They highlighted dangers that AI chatbots pose, including providing incorrect medical information, manipulating people, creating news articles, and illegally using large amounts of personal data scraped off the internet. While the upcoming EU’s AI Act addresses some of these issues, it won’t start applying for several years, thus leaving consumers unprotected from a technology which is developing at a rapid pace1.
Interestingly, some countries have already taken action. Italy, for example, ordered OpenAI to temporarily stop processing users’ personal information while it investigates a potential data breach. France, Spain, and Canada are also looking into OpenAI and ChatGPT1.
Another piece of significant news was related to China’s advancements in AI regulations. The Chinese government has recently established an ethics committee specifically focused on artificial intelligence and other high-tech fields. This committee is aimed at providing guidelines to regulate AI and steer research and development in a more ethical and responsible direction. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has also started discussing new guidelines to address the AI’s impact on consumer privacy. They are set to implement the law in July.
