In case you didn’t already know, AI can track your emotions through webcams and voice recognition systems, and it most probably does it without you realising it. Privacy? What’s that?

The EU has taken steps to ban such activities through its Artificial Intelligence Act to protect netizens from AI misuse. It’s among the first ones to establish a comprehensive set of AI rules against AI-based manipulation, harassment, and discrimination.

Websites will also be prohibited from using AI technologies to trick people into spending money. This is usually done through AI-driven patterns silently stuffed in services. 

Simply put, they analyse your age, socio-economic conditions, and other factors to try and manipulate you into making financial commitments or purchase decisions. 

Among other things, social scoring is also banned under the AI Act. Social scoring is an evaluation done through the analysis of unrelated personal data, like financial habits, race, or other internet activity of a user. AI algorithms track this information and it often leads to discrimination or privacy breach. 

One of the most common use cases of emotion tracking is employers using voice recognition and webcams to track their employee’s emotions.

The EU has, therefore, outlawed the use of mobile CCTV cameras with AI-powered facial recognition tech. Although certain exceptions have been granted, they’re not without very strict safeguards. 

The said exceptions will only be provided to cases that have severe security threats and will require prior judicial authorisation of the government. 

These policies are effective from 2nd August, which gives countries enough time to adjust their AI usage to conform to the new guidelines. AI breaches after the effective date shall be punishable with a fine which could range from 1.5 to 1.7 % of the company’s global revenue. 

The Need For AI Laws Today 

With AI’s rapid growth and our increasing dependence on it, it is important to keep a healthy balance to ensure global safety. AI recently crossed the “red line,” which should be really concerning given how AI has the potential to go against the interests of the human race if it’s given too much power. 

These European Union’s developments draw a clear line between AI systems being used by humans for assistance and it being used to judge criminal risks or make discriminations. 

The United States has a rather lenient approach with light voluntary compliance policies that are more focused on human rights. China has taken an approach focused on social stability and state control with regard to AI use. 

It’s nice to see countries becoming aware of AI security needs and taking steps to make it come true. That being said, some experts have also pointed out that the development of AI is so rapid that by the time these policies are enforced, AI systems might already be updated to cleverly bypass them.