Europe 1 with AFP 17:51 p.m., May 08, 2023, modified at 17:51 p.m., May 08, 2023

European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager calls for speeding up the regulation of artificial intelligence in the EU. This Thursday, for their part, MEPs must adopt a common position on the framework of AI.

The European Union has "no time to lose" to regulate artificial intelligence, said Monday the vice-president of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager, calling for "quickly" to adopt a text that is currently the subject of lively discussions in Parliament.

"It's important to go fast. We really need our legislation to adapt," she told a news conference in Berlin ahead of a meeting with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

Discussions lagging behind

"There is no time to lose," she added, saying she hoped that the "IA Act", a text drawn up by the Commission, would be adopted "before the end of the year". MEPs are due to adopt a common position by vote on Thursday. This will be followed by difficult negotiations between Parliament, the Commission and the Member States.

The EU has been working for years on a draft regulation on artificial intelligence, which would be the first major legislation in the world to regulate the sector. Objective: to enable innovation while guaranteeing the security and rights of users.

The Commission presented its project in April 2021. But since then, discussions have dragged on in Parliament, where supporters of maximum regulation and those who advocate letting it happen to encourage its development clash.

The fanfare arrival of Chat GPT at the end of last year has shaken up the debates all the more, with many MEPs worried about the risk of obsolescence of this text developed before the emergence of this tool.

Uses soon to be banned

The new legislation "may apply to artificial intelligences like Chat GPT", defended the vice-president of the European Commission, admitting, however, that "it would not be the end of the story with AI, but rather a very, very solid beginning".

The "AI Act" focuses on the uses of artificial intelligence, some of which will be banned, such as the "generalized surveillance of a population" or the manipulation of "behavior, opinion or decisions of citizens".

Others would only be regulated, such as "remote biometric identification of people in public places" or systems for prioritizing emergency services, access to educational institutions, or recruitment tools.