It really depends on how they implement it. They can either implement it in a way that it requires such exorbitant compliance costs, that it kills off competition. If that’s the case, the law will just strengthen the foothold of the current few companies and create a market without competition, which would be terrible. Alternatively, they could implement it in a way that it hurts every player in the space by making them follow extremely strict privacy and copyright laws to make it hard for everyone, but without stifling innovation.
I feel like the EU could potentially take the first route and that’s scary. You can argue the EU is anti-BigTech but all those fines are just spare change for these giants, so how do we know it isn’t just a smokescreen?
Some more details
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence
- https://www.smry.ai/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2023%2F12%2F08%2Ftechnology%2Feu-ai-act-regulation.html (stripped paywall link)
In any case, it will be a flexible law, regulated in accordance with the future development of AI, depending on a commission of independent experts, so that the law does not lag behind the advancement of these technologies.
I just hope it works the way it is supposed to, no loopholes for Big Tech or anything like that.
Big Tech already has to walk on eggshells today in the EU on privacy issues, if they don’t want to be blocked or face huge fines. Just compare their practices for US users with those in the EU.
MS US
vs MS EU (not perfect, but nothing to do with the US service)
https://themarkup.org/blacklight
- (In its search bar in Options you can select if it scans the US or the EU page for mobile or PC)
