来源：《新科学家》
原文刊登日期：2021年4月15日
A European Union plan to regulate artificial intelligence could see companies that break proposed rules on mass surveillance and discrimination fined millions of euros. Draft legislation, leaked ahead of its official release later this month, suggests the EU is attempting to find a way on AI regulation.
欧盟一项监管人工智能的计划可能导致违反大规模监视和歧视规定的公司被罚款数百万欧元。在本月晚些时候正式发布之前泄露的立法草案表明，欧盟正试图找到一种对人工智能进行监管的方法。
As presently worded, the rules would ban AI designed to harm its users, carry out indiscriminate surveillance or calculate “social scores”. Much of the language is vague enough that the regulations could cover the entire advertising industry or nothing at all. In any case, the military and any agency ensuring public security are exempt.
按照目前的措辞，这些规定将禁止人工智能损害其用户、进行不加区别的监控或计算“社会分数”。其中的很多语言都很模糊，以至于这些规定可能涵盖整个广告业，也可能根本不包括任何内容。在任何情况下，军队和任何保障公共安全的机构都不受这些规定限制。
Some “high risk” activities would be allowed, subject to strict controls, including measures to prevent bringing racial, gender or age bias into AI systems. As possible targets, the legislation mentions systems to automate job recruitment, assigning places at schools, colleges or universities, measuring credit scores or deciding the outcome of visa applications. Companies in breach could be fined up to €20 million, or 4 per cent of global turnover.
一些“高风险”活动将被允许，并受到严格控制，包括防止种族、性别或年龄偏见进入人工智能系统的措施。作为可能的目标，该法案提到了自动化招聘、分配学校、学院或大学名额、衡量信用分数或决定签证申请结果的系统。违反规定的公司可能被处以高达2000万欧元或全球营业额的4%作为罚款。
In a way, the news is no surprise, as the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised to urgently bring in AI legislation when she was elected in 2019. But Lilian Edwards at Newcastle University, UK, says the draft laws will concern the tech industry. “I applaud the ambition, but you can’t imagine it getting through,” she says.
在某种程度上，这一消息并不令人意外，因为欧盟委员会主席乌苏拉·冯·德莱恩在2019年当选时承诺将紧急引入人工智能立法。但英国纽卡斯尔大学的莉莉安•爱德华兹表示，该法律草案将涉及科技行业。她说：“我赞赏她的雄心壮志，但你无法想象这个草案能通过。”
Edwards compares the approach to the way EU regulates consumer products, which must meet certain requirements to be imported. “That’s much harder to do with AI as it’s not always a simple product,” she says. “You’re heading inexorably towards a trade war with Silicon Valley or weak enforcement.”
爱德华兹将这个草案与欧盟监管消费品的方式进行了比较，后者必须满足特定的要求才能进口。她表示：“人工智能很难做到这一点，因为它并不总是一种简单的产品。你正在无情地走向一个二选一，要么与硅谷进行贸易战，要么是执法不力。”
The US has already made huge strides in implementing AI in a range of industries, including national security and law enforcement. In the US, where many tech giants are based, a light-touch, free-market approach to regulation was encouraged by Donald Trump’s administration, while current president Joe Biden has taken no firm public stance.
美国已经在国家安全和执法等领域实施人工智能方面取得了巨大进展。在许多科技巨头的总部所在地美国，唐纳德·特朗普政府鼓励宽松的自由市场监管方式，而现任总统乔·拜登没有采取坚定的公众立场。
The EU has had previous success in influencing global tech policy. Its General Data Protection Regulation, introduced in 2018, inspired similar laws in non-EU countries and in California, the home of Silicon Valley. In response, however, some US firms have simply blocked EU customers from accessing their services.
欧盟此前在影响全球技术政策方面取得了成功。2018年出台的《通用数据保护条例》激励了非欧盟国家和硅谷所在地加利福尼亚州出台类似的法律。然而，作为回应，一些美国公司干脆阻止欧盟用户访问它们的服务。