After the approval of the law, the reactions among groups defending fundamental and digital rights, and also among business associations and think tanks in the technology sector, have not been long in coming.
They are a reflection of the balance that the EU has tried to find with the law and range from those who complain that the standard falls short and leaves many dangerous aspects uncovered, to those who regret that the EU has focused more in regulating a technology that is in continuous development instead of worrying about Europe being at the forefront of its development as they do in other parts of the world.
For Daniel Friedlaender, director of CCIA Europe, the agreement “marks the beginning of important and necessary technical work on crucial details of the AI law, which are still missing. Unfortunately, speed appears to have prevailed over quality, with potentially disastrous consequences for the European economy. The negative impact could be felt far beyond the AI sector.”
For Daniel Leufer, a policy analyst at the digital rights advocacy group Access Now, “whatever the victories in these final negotiations, the fact is that there will still be huge flaws in this final text: loopholes for law enforcement , lack of protection in the context of migration, opt-out options for developers and large loopholes in bans on the most dangerous AI systems.”
For his part, Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information and Innovation Technologies Foundation (ITIF, for its acronym in English) – a think tank on technology and science – believes that “given the speed with which AI is developing , EU lawmakers should have paused any legislation until they better understand what exactly they are regulating.” In Castro's opinion, “the EU should focus on winning the innovation race, not the regulation race. “AI promises to open a new wave of digital progress in all sectors of the economy.”
Finally, Enza Iannopollo, an analyst at Forrester, a research and advisory group, believes that “despite the criticism, this is good news for companies and society. For businesses, it begins to provide a robust framework for assessing and mitigating risks that, if left unchecked, could harm customers and limit businesses' ability to benefit. of their technology investments. And for society, it helps protect people from potentially harmful outcomes.”
