Barbados Times

Barbados, Caribbean & World News
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Robo-cop: EU wants firms to be held liable for harm done by AI

Robo-cop: EU wants firms to be held liable for harm done by AI

New liability regime would give victims of AI systems their day in court.
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed new rules that would see makers of artificial intelligence-powered software and products forced to compensate people harmed by their creations.

A new AI Liability Directive would make it easier to sue for compensation when a person or organization gets hurt or suffers damages through artificial intelligence-powered drones and robots or because of software such as automated hiring algorithms.

“The new rules will give victims of damage caused by AI systems an equal chance and access to a fair trial and redress,” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told reporters ahead of the presentation of the proposals.

The draft law is the latest attempt by European officials to regulate AI and set a global standard to control the flourishing technology. It comes as the EU is in the throes of negotiating the AI Act, the world’s first bill to rein in high-risk uses of AI, including facial recognition, "social scoring" systems and AI-boosted software for immigration and social benefits.

“If we want to have real trust of consumers and users in the AI application, we need to be sure that it's possible to have such an access to compensation and to have access to real decision in justice if it's needed, without too many obstacles, like the opacity of the systems,” said Reynders.

Under the new law, victims would be able to challenge a provider, developer or user of AI technology if they suffer damage to their health or property, or suffer discrimination based on fundamental rights such as privacy. Until now, it has been hard and extremely expensive for victims to build cases when they think they have been harmed by an AI because the technology is complex and opaque.

Courts would get more power to pry open the black boxes of AI companies and ask for detailed information about the data used for the algorithms, the technical specifications and risk-control mechanisms.

With this new access to information, victims could prove that damage came from a tech company that sold an AI system or that the user of the AI — for instance, a university, workplace or government agency — failed to comply with obligations in other European laws like the AI Act or a directive to protect platform workers. Victims would also have to prove the damage is linked to the specific AI applications.

The European Commission also presented a revamped Product Liability Directive. The 1985 law is not adapted for new product categories like connected devices, and revised rules aim to enable customers to claim compensation when they experience harm from a defective software update, upgrade or service. The proposed product liability rules also bring online marketplaces into the crosshairs, which, according to the rules, can be held liable if they don't disclose the name of a trader to a person that experienced harm upon request.

The Commission's proposal will still need approval from national governments in the EU Council and from the European Parliament.

Parliament in particular could object to the European Commission's choice to propose a weaker liability regime than it itself suggested earlier.

The chamber in 2020 called on the Commission to adopt rules to ensure victims of harmful AI can obtain compensation, asking specifically that developers, providers and users of high-risk autonomous AI could be held legally responsible even for unintentional harm. But the EU executive decided to go with a “pragmatic” approach that is weaker than this strict liability regime, saying the evidence was “not sufficient to justify” such a regime.

“We chose the lowest level of intervention,” said Reynders. “We need to see whether new developments [will] justify stronger rules for the future.”

The Commission will review whether a stricter regime is needed, five years after it comes into force, it said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Barbados Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×