The new head of the European Commision has revealed that she has bold plans for artificial intelligence. In a speech to the European Parliament, president Ursula von der Leyen has stated that she hopes to propose new rules that will regulate the use of artificial intelligence within the first 100 days of the new European Commission.
As head of the European Commission, Leyen is responsible for running the executive body which proposes laws and manages the day-to-day running of the EU. Her new commission was due to begin work in early November, but after the European Parliament rejected three candidates from France, Hungary and Romania the start of the new European Commission was delayed.
Parliament has now approved all the members of the new European Commission under Leyen, meaning she can now get on with her legislative agenda. One of the first things on that agenda is ‘a coordinated European approach on the human and ethical implications of AI’.
While Leyen didn’t spell out her exact plans, she pointed to GDPR as being a model that could influence the new AI regulations. This could worry some that see GDPR as being a great financial burden on European firms, while others have pointed out that the same catch-all style law may not work for AI like it did with data privacy.
Despite the plans for AI regulation, Leyen wants Europeans to know that she’s very much pro-technology. In fact, she wants the European Union to promote and invest in the technology sector more than it currently is, that includes investments in AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and critical chip technologies.
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