Germany, France, and Italy sign agreement on future AI regulation

France, Germany, and Italy have reached an agreement on how artificial intelligence should be regulated under a joint document that is expected to speed up negotiations at the European level.

Reuters reports that the three countries’ governments favor “mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct” for the so-called basic AI models designed to produce a wide range of results. But they oppose “untested regulations.”

“Together, we emphasize that the AI Law regulates the use of AI, not the technology itself,” the joint document says. – “The inherent risks are associated with using AI systems, not the technology itself.

The European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the EU are negotiating how the bloc should position itself on this topic.

The document states that developers of fundamental models will have to define model cards used to provide information about a machine learning model.

“The model cards should contain relevant information to understand the model’s functioning, capabilities, and limitations, and should be based on best practices of the development community,” the document says.

In particular, it is noted that no sanctions should be imposed at the initial stage. However, if violations of the code of conduct are detected after a specific time, a sanctions system may be established.

The German Ministry of Economics, which is responsible for this topic together with the Ministry of Digital Technology, stated that laws and state control should not regulate AI itself, but its application.

“We need to regulate applications, not technology, if we want to play in the major league of AI worldwide,” said German Minister of Digital Affairs Volker Wissing.

The German government is having a digital summit in Jena, Thuringia, which will bring together representatives of politics, business, and science.

AI-related issues will also be on the agenda of talks between the German and Italian governments in Berlin this week.