Desafíos actuales de la Inteligencia Artificial

54 Desafíos actuales de la Inteligencia Artificial 1. INTRODUCTION Artificial intelligence (AI) is sometimes perceived as a new, unregulated technology. This misconception is mainly due to generative AI making the headlines since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022. The new chatbot created by OpenAI has been one of the fastest growing consumer products of all times. 1 Its release has clearly marked an inflexion point in consumers’ awareness of AI’s potential risks and opportunities. As a result, the EU legislator introduced provisions related to general purpose AI models in the newly enacted Artificial Intelligence Act. 2 This contributed to the new regulation giving the impression that it was the first legislative instrument applicable to AI systems. However, AI systems are not being created and implemented in a legal void. In fact, before the hype around its generative form, AI has been operating in the background of the internet for long – powering search engines, personalised advertising, content recommen- dations, maps directions, etc. –, without consumers specifically realising that AI was at play. Due to their dependency on (personal) data, AI systems have been subject to data protection laws for some time now, even before the entry into force of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 3 Today, arguably the most important limits to the use of AI systems are set by data protection and competition authorities. If generative AI has now brought AI to the forefront of public debate, the EU had already been working on enacting the AI Act before ChatGPT’s release. In this context, exploring the interactions between the AI Act and the GDPR is relevant because the former will be fully applicable only in 2027, 4 and its effects will take even longer to materialize. More generally, a better understanding of the overlap between AI and privacy policy issues appears essential for the future of AI development. 5 1 The chatbot has gained 1 million users after a week and 100 million within two months (MILMO, Dan, “Chat- GPT reaches 100 million users two months after launch”, The Guardian, 2 February 2023, https://www.the- guardian.com/technology/2023/feb/02/chatgpt-100-million-users-open-ai-fastest-growing-app) . 2 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act), OJ L, 12.7.2024, p. 1-144. 3 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1-88. 4 The AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024. Most rules will be applicable as of 2 August 2026, except for (i) the prohibitions, definitions and provisions related to AI literacy (applying on 2 February 2025); (ii) the rules on governance and the obligations for general purpose AI (applying on 2 August 2025); and (iii) the obligations for high-risk AI systems that classify as high-risk because they are embedded in regulated products (applying on 2 August 2027). See Article 113 AI Act. 5 OECD, “AI, data governance and privacy: Synergies and areas of international co-operation”, OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers, No. 22, Paris: OECD Publishing, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1787/2476b1a4-en.