August 1, 2024, went down in history as an important day for the European Union. The EU’s first comprehensive law on artificial intelligence technologies came into force today. As stated by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “centred on people and their rights” aims to provide an innovative and secure framework. Here are the details…
Artificial Intelligence Law overview: Prohibited practices and scope
The new regulation will come into full operation after various stages. Restrictions on prohibited applications will come into effect within six months, codes of conduct within nine months, and obligations for high-risk systems within 36 months. According to the law all EU member states August 2, 2026 will be required to comply with these regulations as of .
The law divides AI applications into four main categories based on the level of risk they pose. These are: minimal, limited, high And unacceptable risk. There are also light transparency requirements for systems with limited risk.
EU approves artificial intelligence law: What’s in the law?
The first Artificial Intelligence Act, which sets standards for AI regulation, has been approved by the EU. The law will come into force in 20 days.
High risk systemsmust carry out a fundamental rights impact assessment and register in the EU database before being placed on the market. These systems will be required to submit data and technical documentation to prove product compliance.
Unacceptable risk systems that carry information are completely banned. This includes cognitive behavioral manipulation systems, unauthorized collection of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage, emotion recognition systems in workplaces and educational institutions, social scoring and biometric classification systems by governments. In addition, some predictive policing methods used for certain crimes are among these bans.
The law also calls for the creation of AI regulatory sandboxes (testbeds) to foster innovation, which will provide a safe space for innovative systems to be developed, tested, and validated in real-world conditions.
“In order to reduce administrative burdens and protect small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups from pressure from dominant market players,limited and clearly stated” will benefit from support measures.
In case of violation of the law, a complaint can be filed with the relevant market supervisory authority. In case of violation, companies will pay a fine of a certain percentage of their annual global turnover in the previous financial year or a predetermined amount, whichever is higher.
Penalties of 35 million euros or 7 percent will be imposed for violations of prohibited practices, 15 million euros or 3 percent for violations of legal obligations and 7.5 million euros or 1.5 percent for providing false information. More proportionate ceilings will apply for SMEs and start-ups.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also stressed that the new regulation will guide the development of AI in a reliable and innovative way and support SMEs and start-ups in Europe to bring pioneering AI solutions to the market.