ITALY: ChatGPT developed by US start-up OpenAI and supported by Microsoft, raised privacy issues, according to the Italian data protection authorities. With “immediate effect,” the agency said it will forbid OpenAI and launch an investigation.
Microsoft has put a lot of money into Bing to make a database that can copy different writing styles and answer questions in a way that seems natural and human. As per the reports, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook will all contain a version of the technology.
Elon Musk and other industry heavyweights have called for the development of AI systems to be put on hold due to concerns that the race to create them is out of control. The Italian government said that it will not only stop OpenAI’s chatbot from working, but it will also check to see if it follows the General Data Protection Regulation.
The GDPR sets rules for how we can use, process, and store personal data. The watchdog stated that there was no legal justification for gathering and storing personal data for training algorithms.
Furthermore, it claimed that because there was no method to confirm users’ ages, the app “exposes kids to utterly improper replies relative to their degree of development and understanding.”
Bard, Google’s competing AI chatbot, is now accessible to a select group of people over 18 to avoid a fine of €20 million or up to 4% of annual earnings.
The Irish Data Protection Commission is following up with the Italian regulator to find out why they banned ChatGPT. In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is an independent data regulator, is encouraging progress in AI but is also ready to fight against companies that don’t follow data protection rules.
BEUC urged the EU and national authorities to look into ChatGPT and comparable chatbots, including data-protection watchdogs. Despite the EU drafting the first AI law, BEUC is concerned that it will be years before it is put into action, putting consumers at risk from a technology that is not appropriately regulated.
Ursula Pachl, BEUC deputy director general, warned that society was not sufficiently safeguarded from the harm that AI could inflict. Concerns over ChatGPT and related chatbots are becoming increasingly serious, and public authorities must reclaim control over them and subject them to wider public scrutiny. In some nations, ChatGPT is already restricted.
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