"EU Member States, such as France,
Germany and Italy, must not undermine the AI Act by bowing to
the tech industry's claims that adoption of the AI Act will lead
to heavy-handed regulation that would curb innovation," said
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard in a
statement after Rome, Paris and Berlin came out against
introducing "un-tested norms" on foundation models such as
GPT-4, the basis of the ChatGPT chatbot, instead preferring
"compulsory self-regulation through codes of conduct" to avoid
burdening companies with excessive administration that could
stifle innovation.
"Let us not forget that 'innovation versus regulation' is a
false dichotomy that has for years been peddled by tech
companies to evade meaningful accountability and binding
regulation," continued Callamard, highlighting the
"concentration of power of a handful of tech companies who seek
to set the terms of the world's first comprehensive AI
rulebook".
"It is well documented how AI technologies magnify human rights
harms and discrimination when used for mass surveillance,
policing, welfare distribution and at borders," she went on,
adding that "marginalized groups, including migrants, refugees
and asylum seekers are impacted and targeted the most".
The Amnesty International chief said it is "imperative" that
France, Germany and Italy "stop delaying the negotiations
process" and that EU lawmakers focus on ensuring that "crucial
human rights protections are coded in law before the end of the
current EU mandate" in 2024.
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