European Union AI Act • Hacker News Board

Re: European Union AI Act

#31

Post by evantbyrne » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 9:28 PM UTC

goldfeld wrote: post #30

evantbyrne wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is "they"? EU tech companies and their workers definitely don't have it better than American ones

Tech companies are not the first concern of civilization at least not insofar as I don't know of any philosophical strain establishing them as kings and overlords.

We can speak past each other cryptically if you prefer that but I don't think that is constructive. I believe that necessary protections generally already exist through existing legislation and the AI part doesn't need to be specified, but I'm open to changing my mind with new information. Just like cookie banners won't stop the CCP from slurping up TikTok comms, I don't see how this legislation will stop adversaries from weaponizing AI. The definition of AI is going to be vague enough to cause significant hurdles for companies looking to operate in the EU, which is already struggling to keep up with the US economy.

Re: European Union AI Act

#32

Post by candiodari » Tue, Mar 19, 2024, 7:03 AM UTC

ianbicking wrote: post #20

soco wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a beginner question: what's the big difference between emotion perception and sentiment analysis (which is offered everywhere)? Sentiment goes only plus/minus and emotion produces multidimensional charts?

I thought I'd look it up to be sure, finding it in the official PDF [2]: "[Prohibited:] AI systems inferring emotions in workplaces or educational institutions, except for medical or safety reasons." Elsewhere it specifically calls "emotion recognition" to be of "limited risk" (calling for transparency) and elsewhere kind of implies it to be "high risk" (as being part of the "annex"), though maybe it's just calling o…

So there's effectively a blanket exception for the organisations you really don't want to be doing this, ie. Police, the institution itself and government? (incidentally, government is your health insurance company in most of Europe)

I keep coming to the same problem with these regulations. I am much less afraid of Amazon/Google/... figuring out something about me and using it to sell me stuff than I am afraid of the police doing the same, and arresting me or otherwise having a huge negative impact on my life. Knowing the police, they'll probably not even do AI monitoring correctly, and of course, won't be responsible for the damage they cause.

Frankly, that Amazon and Google figure out stuff I might want to buy might actually be a positive. Maybe. Sometimes. If they become better at weeding out scams, that is.

Re: European Union AI Act

#33

Post by ianbicking » Tue, Mar 19, 2024, 9:04 PM UTC

candiodari wrote: post #32

ianbicking wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I'd look it up to be sure, finding it in the official PDF [2]: "[Prohibited:] AI systems inferring emotions in workplaces or educational institutions, except for medical or safety reasons." Elsewhere it specifically calls "emotion recognition" to be of "limited risk" (calling for transparency) and elsewhere kind of implies it to be "high risk" (as being part of the "annex"), though maybe it's just calling o…

So there's effectively a blanket exception for the organisations you really don't want to be doing this, ie. Police, the institution itself and government? (incidentally, government is your health insurance company in most of Europe) I keep coming to the same problem with these regulations. I am much less afraid of Amazon/Google/... figuring out something about me and using it to sell me stuff than I am afraid of the…

While there's a hard block on using emotion recognition in workplaces and educational institutions, the other cases you list are listed under "High Risk" and so they are very much included in the regulation.

There are several exceptions for different kinds of law enforcement, things like eminent danger, or doing biometric filters when searching for someone that fits a description. How much you can squeeze in under those exceptions depends on how bold the police are. Probably a lot, but it's not written that way.