Eight uses of artificial intelligence are prohibited under the new European law, with some exceptions.

The European Union has issued a new law to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, aimed at protecting users and ensuring integrity and transparency.

The new law, considered the first of its kind in the world, prohibits a number of uses of artificial intelligence that it deems to violate the privacy of citizens of 27 member states of the bloc.

1- Fraudulent systems

The new artificial intelligence law prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to develop digital systems that manipulate the thinking patterns of a person or group of people in a way that affects their ability to think, judge, and make decisions.

There are different forms of these systems, such as the artificial intelligence algorithms used by social media networks, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to analyze people’s usage patterns on their platforms, with the aim of understanding their way of thinking.

The European Union believes that some parties may resort to “planting ideas to change public opinion in a country.”.

2- Exploitative systems

European law prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to exploit a person, group, or class of people, based on their age, disability, or socioeconomic status, in order to distort the behavior of that person, or any person belonging to that group, in a way that causes significant harm to that person or any other person.

For example, some scammers may use artificial intelligence to identify the personal and age characteristics of their app user, and if it is confirmed that he is young, for example, a child, or has a disability, he completes hidden financial transactions within the app, relying on the inability of these groups to distinguish.

3- Biased systems

The law prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to develop systems that evaluate people based on their social behavior and classify them accordingly, which could lead to unfair treatment.

An example of this use that violates the new law is that some entertainment clubs resort to an artificial intelligence system that collects and analyzes data from real-time surveillance cameras to identify the general features of the people who frequent it, to ensure that they meet the entry requirements or not.

4- Crime prediction systems

The new law also criminalizes the use of smart systems that predict people will commit crimes, based on details of their personal lives, behaviors and characteristics, without any concrete and strong evidence to prove it.

However, the law exempts from this criminalization smart systems established by states, security institutions, and law enforcement agencies to collect information and data and track suspects.

5. Facial recognition systems

European law has focused on criminalizing the use of artificial intelligence to create intelligent systems for the purpose of expanding or creating rules for facial recognition, whether captured via television surveillance cameras or via images and videos circulating on the Internet.

6- Systems for inferring emotions

The new European law prohibits the use of artificial intelligence systems to infer the feelings of a normal person in work or educational environments, except in cases where the artificial intelligence system is intended to be used or put on the market for medical or safety reasons.

7- Biometric classification systems

The law prohibits classifying people based on their biometric data, such as facial and eye prints, skin color, facial and body features, to infer their race, political opinions, trade union membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, or sexual orientation.

However, he excluded from this ban any classification of legally acquired biometric datasets, such as photographs, based on biometric data or classification of biometric data in the field of law enforcement.

8- Biometric identification systems in public places

The law prohibits the use of real-time biometric identification systems in public places for law enforcement purposes, except in specific cases such as searching for victims of kidnapping, human trafficking, or sexual exploitation, as well as searching for missing persons, as well as confronting any threat to the lives or physical safety of natural persons, or such as “terrorist attacks,” and determining the location or identity of a person suspected of committing a criminal offense, for the purpose of conducting a criminal investigation, prosecution, or execution of a criminal penalty.

Source: Al-Sharq