In April 2021, the European Commission presented its proposal for harmonized rules on artificial intelligence (AI), dubbed the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). After the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament finalized their positions in December 2022 and June 2023, the legislative institutions entered a trilogue on the upcoming AI regulation.
The negotiations can be challenging due to the significant differences between the Parliament and the Council on specific issues such as biometric surveillance. In Germany, political groups and digital experts are also concerned about proposed changes to the AI Act.
Die Linke calls for stricter regulation and transparency
The German left party Die Linke highlighted significant gaps in European AI regulation, particularly regarding consumer protection, and obligations for AI providers and users.
It wants to require high-risk systems — including AI systems that pose a high risk to health, safety and the fundamental rights of natural persons — to be checked for compliance with the regulation by a supervisory authority before these AI systems are launched on the market. Die Linke has suggested that the German government appoint at least one national supervisory authority and provide sufficient financial resources to fulfill this task.
“Politics must ensure that a technology that is significant for everyone but controlled by only a few is supervised by a regulatory authority and proven trustworthy before its implementation,” said Petra Sitte, a politician from Die Linke, adding:
“Therefore, do not let yourself be blackmailed by lobbyists of big technology corporations. We can also strengthen an open-source approach in Europe […], meaning that a programming code is accessible to everyone.”
Die Linke also advocates an explicit ban on biometric identification and classification systems in public spaces, AI-driven election interference, and predictive policing systems.
According to the party, the exception for scientific AI systems specified in the AI Act should not apply if the system is used outside research institutions. Die Linke is already calling on the German government to develop training programs on the capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and to evaluate AI systems used in government operations annually “using a standardized risk classification model,” as well as registering them in an AI registry.
The Union prioritizes innovation and openness
Conversely, the…
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