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Understanding the New EU AI Act: Compliance, Prohibitions and Global Impact

All You Need to Know About the New EU AI Act

As the world continues to embrace the possibilities brought about by artificial intelligence, the EU AI Act brings about a new era in AI regulations. The act, which begins its initial phase on February 2nd, creates a regulatory landscape with high stakes and strict rules. Companies operating within the EU must now be aware of the prohibitions and compliance points the Act brings forth.

AI Prohibitions and Compliance

Companies need to be aware that the deployment or use of certain high-risk AI systems are prohibited. These include social scoring, emotion recognition, real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces, and other scenarios that the Act deems unacceptable. Violations could see companies penalized up to 7% of their global annual turnover.

As Levent Ergin, Chief Strategist for Climate, Sustainability, and AI at Informatica, points out, “Businesses must demonstrate tangible ROI from AI investments while navigating challenges around data quality and regulatory uncertainty.” This, he suggests, means that data governance becomes key to compliance and success.

Relevance Beyond EU Borders

The EU AI Act is not confined to the EU. It applies globally, as it affects all companies that utilize AI for operations linked to the EU. Companies based elsewhere but whose AI output is used in the EU are required to comply with the rules of the Act.

To align with AI use and the new regulations, businesses must navigate other legal complexities such as IP, data protection, and discrimination risks. Additionally, they need to focus on improving AI literacy within their organization.

Responsible AI Innovation

The EU AI Act seeks to foster responsible AI development, thereby encouraging ethical innovation. It’s considered pivotal in shaping a responsible and sustainable future for AI, as it eliminates biases and prioritizes fundamental rights like fairness, equity, and privacy.

Understanding the Prohibitions

To ensure compliance, businesses need to clearly understand the following prohibitions:

  • Harmful subliminal, manipulative, and deceptive techniques
  • Harmful exploitation of vulnerabilities
  • Unacceptable social scoring
  • Individual crime risk assessment and prediction (with some exceptions)
  • Untargeted scraping of internet or CCTV material to expand facial recognition databases
  • Emotion recognition in public spaces like the workplace and education (with some exceptions)
  • Biometric categorisation to infer sensitive categories (with some exceptions)
  • Real-time remote biometric identification (RBI) in public spaces for law enforcement purposes (with some exceptions)

As AI regulations continue to evolve and shape the business world, organizations need to adapt and navigate new rules and changes in order to make the most of AI’s potential while upholding legal and ethical standards.

AI & Big Data Expo

If you’re interested in learning more about AI and big data, be sure to check out the upcoming AI & Big Data Expo happening in Amsterdam, California, and London.