Last week, tech luminaries such as Twitter platform chief Elon Musk called for these types of AI systems to be put on hold amid concerns that the race to develop them is spiraling out of control.
Italy has become the first Western country to ban GBT Chatbot, the AI-powered chatbot.
Italy’s data protection watchdog confirmed that it had opened an investigation against OpenAI, the company behind the chatbot, due to data privacy concerns after talking about the program’s violation of privacy rules and illegal data collection.
GPT Chat can answer pretty much any questions and bypass any type of and even website encryption. It has been used by hundreds of millions of people since its launch in November 2022, making it the fastest growing app in history, according to a study by UBS.
Apparently, concerns have been growing about the potential risks of artificial intelligence, including its threat to eliminate many jobs and spread disinformation.
Last week, tech luminaries such as Twitter platform chief Elon Musk called for these types of AI systems to be put on hold amid concerns that the race to develop them is spiraling out of control.
Will other countries follow Italy’s example and ban GBT chat?
Following Italy’s decision to restrict access to the chatbot application, the European consumer organization called on all authorities to investigate all major AI chatbots.
GBT Chat, for example, is already inaccessible in a number of countries, including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
According to Ursula Paschl, deputy director of the European Consumer Organization: “Consumers are not ready for this technology. They don’t realize how deceptive it can be.”
“They don’t realize that the information they are getting may be wrong. I think this incident with GBT chat is very important. It’s kind of a wake-up call for the European Union because even though European institutions were working on AI law, “It won’t be viable for another four years. And we’ve seen how quickly these kinds of systems evolve.”
The European Commission is currently debating the world’s first piece of legislation on artificial intelligence called the Artificial Intelligence Act. But it appears he may not be inclined to ban AI systems, according to European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager.
“No matter what technology we use, we must continue to promote our freedoms and protect our rights,” Vestager wrote on Twitter. “This is why we don’t regulate AI technologies, we regulate uses of AI. Let’s not get rid of it in a few years.” Which took decades to build.
According to the BBC, the Irish Data Protection Commission and the UK’s data regulator have also said they will start looking more closely at these AI-powered chatbots especially when it comes to data protection.
Germany’s Commissioner for Data Protection confirmed to Handelsblatt that Germany could follow Italy’s example by banning GPT chat due to data security concerns. France’s privacy regulators have also reached out to their Italian counterparts to learn more about the basis for the ban.
Dan Morgan, director of European government affairs at Scorecard Protection, a provider of cybersecurity ratings, told Euronews that the move signals the importance of regulatory compliance for companies like OpenAI in Europe. Avoid regulation if you want to work in the EU.”
“Companies must prioritize personal data protection and compliance. No matter how important the product is, as you know, complying with regulations in Europe is not an extra option.”
The Italian watchdog said the company behind ChatGBT has 20 days to address data protection issues or pay a fine of 20 million euros, or up to 4 percent of annual revenue. The company’s CEO, Sam Altman, confirmed on Twitter that OpenAI was referring to the “Italian government” over the issue. “Italy is one of my favorite countries and I look forward to visiting it again,” he added.
