Italian authorities announced on Friday that they were blocking the chatbot Chat GPTaccused of failing to comply with the legislation on personal data and of Lack of an age verification system for underage users.
In a statement, the national data protection authority said the decision had “immediate effect” and accused the chatbot of failing to comply with these two fundamental personal data issues.
This decision will result in “the temporary limitation of the processing of Italian users’ data by OpenAI”, the American company creator of ChatGPTHe added.
ChatGPT, launched in November, was quickly adopted by users impressed by its ability to answer difficult questions, write sonnets and even pass exams.
Interviewed by AFP, an OpenAI spokesman assured that the chat has been “deactivated for users in Italy” to respect the decision of the data supervisory authority.
However, he defended that the company is “concerned about data protection” and believes it complies with European regulations on the matter.
“We are actively working on it reduce personal data while training our artificial intelligence. We believe there is a need for regulation on AI and look forward to working on this with the Authority,” the spokesperson said.
The Italian authority points out that ChatGPT “suffered a data breach on 20 March on user conversations and information relating to the payment of payment service subscribers”.
service interruption
After the first reports of the problem, OpenAI briefly interrupted the service and then recognized an error in an external tool that affected 1.2% of subscribers and an unspecified number of free ones.
The supervisory body scolds “the lack of an information note for users whose data is collected by OpenAI, but above all the absence of a legal basis that justifies the mass collection and storage of personal data, in order to train the algorithms that make the platform work”.
Furthermore, while the robot is intended for people over the age of 13, “the authority points out that the absence of any filter to verify the age of users exposes minors to responses absolutely not in accordance with their level of development”.
The authority asks OpenAI to “communicate the measures taken within 20 days” to remedy this situation, “under penalty of a fine of up to 20 million euros ($21.75 million) or up to 4% of global annual turnover”.
This announcement comes after European police agency Europol warned on Monday that criminals were willing to exploit artificial intelligence such as the ChatGPT chatbot to commit fraud and other cybercrimes.
ChatGPT is funded by the IT giant Microsoft, which has added it to its services and presents itself as a potential competitor to the Google search engine.
History in Italy
Italy’s data protection agency also banned AI firm Replika from using Italian users’ personal data in early February because it offers to chat with personalized avatars that speak and listen.
Some users had complained that they received too bold messages and images, close to sexual harassment.
The European regulation of Data protection (GDPR), which ordered billions of dollars in fines for tech giants, could become the biggest enemy in the old continent of the new content-generating AI.
The European Union is preparing a bill to regulate artificial intelligence, which could be ready by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024 and be implemented in a few years.
Artificial intelligence generates deep fears and more for the use of personal data.
Source: Clarin
Linda Price is a tech expert at News Rebeat. With a deep understanding of the latest developments in the world of technology and a passion for innovation, Linda provides insightful and informative coverage of the cutting-edge advancements shaping our world.