Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1501472
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 15.6.2023 T he European Union wants to regu- late artificial intelligence (AI) with the first step being the Europe- an Parliament's approval of the AI Act on Wednesday. e overwhelming vote in favour of the proposal put forward by co-rap- porteurs Brando Benifei and Dragoş Tudorache sets out the EP's negotiating position for talks on the final form of the law that will begin with EU coun- tries in the Council. e EU aims to reach an agreement by the end of this year, putting the bloc at the global forefront of AI regulation. In the words of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the legisla- tion will be setting the "global standard" for years to come. "All of this is perfectly consistent with our will to be world leaders in digital innovation, based on EU values, such as privacy and respect for fundamental rights," Metsola told a press conference after the vote. e EU wants to enable the develop- ment of AI in such a way that it benefits society. ere are many areas where AI can bring vast improvement to everyday life but like all such technology it comes with its problems and challenges. Competition Commissioner Mar- grethe Vestager told the BBC that dis- crimination is a more pressing concern from advancing AI than human extinc- tion. She argued that "guardrails" were needed to counter the technology's big- gest risks like when AI is used to help make decisions that can affect some- one's livelihood, such as whether they can apply for a mortgage. Vestager said AI's potential to amplify bias or discrimination, which can be contained in the vast amounts of data sourced from the internet and used to train models and tools, was a more pressing concern. Similarly, Alexiei Dingli, a University of Malta professor specialising in AI, in an interview with MaltaToday last Sun- day insisted humans could not be kept out of the loop. While extolling the importance and usefulness of AI, he argued that where AI is used to take decisions that have a real impact on humans – such as using algorithms to identify suspect banking relations and proceeding to terminate an account – the systems should not be believed blindly with no humans to check on the outcome. "Ultimately, you always have to keep humans in the loop; because these are things which will affect people, in the end… e second [concern] is that I think we are still lacking the sort of basic rights that should accompany AI: such as the right to full disclosure, on how a decision about my future was actually taken," Dingli said. AI can create many benefits, such as better healthcare; safer and cleaner transport; more efficient manufacturing; and cheaper and more sustainable ener- gy. Resisting it is pointless. Embracing AI is necessary but its pitfalls cannot be ignored, which is why the EU's efforts to introduce regulations are commendable. AI can be a powerful tool for human improvement but it can also lead to doomsday scenarios if applied wrongly. Finding the balance between embrac- ing technological innovation and tam- ing its excesses is not easy, especially in a field that is developing rapidly… but it can be done. However, regulation will not be enough. AI has the potential of impact- ing employment. Some jobs will become obsolete and workers will have to be re- trained, reskilled or helped to transition into completely different sectors. is puts the onus on the education system to get up to scratch and prepare students for a different world. It is a tall order but with the educational author- ities currently carrying out a consul- tation process to develop a national education strategy, they would do well to keep AI and its impact on society, students and learning in mind. Taming the excesses of AI