The European Commission is due to present a draft regulation of artificial intelligence systems on Wednesday.

Anything that allows general surveillance of the population will remain prohibited, and facial recognition will remain strictly regulated. 

DECRYPTION

For years, artificial intelligence has fascinated by the progress it allows, while worrying by the risks it poses to privacy and respect for fundamental freedoms.

It is therefore to take advantage of this industrial revolution while reassuring that the European Union must unveil on Wednesday afternoon a draft regulation to regulate its uses. 

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The text provides for prohibiting certain uses.

What seems too dangerous will therefore remain banned in Europe, like anything that allows general surveillance of the population, for example, as in China, where the state knows when you are crossing at red lights.

Anything that is used to manipulate an individual, such as a smart toy that could endanger a child, will also be prohibited.

A framework for companies

The European Commission also distinguishes useful, but high-risk uses.

They range from programs that sort resumes to those that help make legal decisions, to robots in surgery.

For these uses, Brussels defines safeguards: a human will always have to supervise the processes, and it will also be necessary to monitor the risks of discrimination or machine bias.

For example, if she is asked to choose a boss, she will have to avoid that she only retains white men because the data tells her that this is frequent.

The idea is therefore that companies have a framework within which they can then innovate. 

Facial recognition allowed in very specific cases

One of the most anticipated points is that of facial recognition.

There are two scenarios.

First up: using biometrics to verify who you are, whether it's unlocking your phone or going through customs.

These uses are already possible and governed by the European Data Protection Regulation.

This time, the Commission regulates the identification of a person without his knowledge in the public space. This will remain prohibited, except in a few very specific cases. It will thus be possible to search for the face of a missing child, that of a suspect in a terrorist context, or that of a person accused of a serious crime. For this, the investigators will have to obtain an authorization and it will be for a limited time. An eventuality that is already worrying privacy advocates.