The European Commission released part of its work programme for 2023. The
DSA was published in the Official Journal. The AI Act is progressing
through the instances.
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Artificial Intelligence Act
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Lawmakers are trying to hammer out rules that will protect people from
potentially harmful artificial intelligence. The main scenarios being
discussed are instances in which opaque and biased algorithms make
life-changing decisions (think education admissions, social benefits,
policing).
—
As the EU doesn’t want to impose bureaucracy and strict obligations on all
software and AI, it becomes necessary to look for criteria that limit the
scope. One such way out proposed is to target the strictest rules on
“High-Risk AI” only, a definition that includes systems that could put the
life and health of citizens at risk or may determine the access to
education and professional course of someone's life .
—
A High-Risk AI system would need to undergo an approved conformity
assessment and continuously comply with AI requirements as set forth in the
regulation. For certain systems an external body will carry out conformity
assessment. Furthermore, registration of stand-alone Hi-Risk AI systems
will take place in a dedicated EU database, a declaration of conformity
must be signed and the Hi-Risk AI system must carry the CE marking
(Conformité Européenne).
—
From what we know and observe, machine learning systems and tools developed
by Wikimedia organisations or deployed on Wikimedia projects are currently
not falling under the “high risk” category. But as the European Parliament
and the Council continue to squabble about rewording definitions, changes
are possible.
—
As the EU can’t and doesn’t want to control whether data is reliable and at
which point human oversight is necessary for each and every system, the AI
Act leans heavily on industry forums (e.g.
ETSI.org) to outline their own
technical instructions that will aim to ensure AI systems are trained on
unbiased data and ultimately determine how much human oversight is needed
and what needs to be done to prevent the software from going off-track.
—
Relying on the industry’s own bodies to call shots on ethical questions has
some stakeholders and lawmakers worried, as they fear it would clash with
their business interests. Hence, this is currently also a hotly debated
issue in parliamentary committees.
—
[1][2][3]
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Draft Work Programme
========
The European Commission has published its draft work programme for the
second quarter of 2023. [4] It is mostly made up of non-legislative
initiatives, one of which will deal with online piracy of live sports
events (live streams). The broadcasters and the sports federations have
been pushing hard for hard law on this and will be disappointed.
—
Among the legislative proposals we can find a file with the working title
“Compulsory Licencing of Patents”. EU countries regulate their own
compulsory licensing schemes and the Commission believes that during some
crises a EU-level rule might make sense. The scope is still unclear, it
will for sure cover pharmaceuticals, but the file is included in the
“digital section” of the programme, so we expect some possible applications
to online services.
—
Where is the right to repair? [5] The European Commission was expected to
propose legislation encouraging the repair and refurbishment of digital
products by the end of the year. Talk of town has it that it was reordered
to rework its initiative by the legal services. Now MEPs are worried it
might get scrapped at the last moment and are exerting pressure to either
go ahead quickly or include it in the work programme.
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Net Neutrality
=============
Parts of the European Commission, led by Commissioner Thierry Breton, are
pushing hard for a legislation that would oblige tech companies using a
significant portion of web traffic to pay telecoms. [6] Depending on how
it's done, this could undermine the principle of “net neutrality”. In
Brussels the vocal deliberations by Breton have unfolded a lobbying battle
between “big telcos” and “big tech”, respectively between Member States and
MEPs. [7].
—
Looking at the Commission’s work programme, a public consultation can be
expected in the first quarter of next year. However, according to Politico,
the Commission is planning to send out a “questionnaire” to telecoms and
technology firms on 21 December with the idea of getting a broader picture
on the topic in advance. Fom experience we know that publishing anything
this close to Christmas and sidestepping formal procedures are often
indicators of controversial plans. We will definitely ask to receive the
“questionnaire”.
—
Our position: Wikimedia has had a zero-rating project in the past:
Wikipedia Zero. It was dropped for various reasons, though no clear
explanation has been communicated. Asking around our movement, one hears
arguments such as “low user numbers” and “incompatibility with basic
principles”. In any case, as a movement we have an interest to ensure that
access to all platforms and projects, including small and not-for-profit
alternatives, remains equal.
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Big Fat Brussels Meeting
=====================
The draft programme is out! Additionally, you could help us by indicating
on the Meta-Wiki page whether you plan to come:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Big_Fat_Brussels_Meeting_VIII
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END
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[1]
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?refere…
[
2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Intelligence_Act
[3]
https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/ai-act-eu-parliaments-discuss…
[4]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iFj9ubNnfJXp9lyJ1_6ZG7Jv80lWsn8S/view?usp=…
[5]https://repair.eu/
[6]
https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-consult-big-tech-contribution-telco-n…
[7]
https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/seven-eu-countries-warn-the-c…