On April 14th, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced the formation of a special working group for ChatGPT. This may be an important step towards establishing a universal policy for developing privacy regulations for artificial intelligence in Europe.
Prior to the establishment of the special working group by the EDPB, Italy had taken action to restrict ChatGPT last month. The German data protection commissioner also indicated that ChatGPT might face limitations. The Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) stated on Thursday that it would conduct a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches caused by ChatGPT.
ChatGPT has gained massive popularity but raises concerns about security, privacy, and employment.
Since its launch in November of last year, the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has gained a great deal of attention for its ability to quickly generate responses to user questions using natural language processing. It has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history, with over 100 million monthly active users. However, people began to question that ChatGPT may threaten security, privacy, and employment.
Industry experts, the US government, and many European governments have expressed concerns about the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence products like ChatGPT.
In a statement released on Thursday, the EDPB said: “EDPB members discussed the enforcement action taken by the Italian data protection authority against OpenAI due to its ChatGPT service.” “The EDPB has decided to establish a special working group to strengthen cooperation between regulatory authorities and exchange information on possible enforcement actions by data protection authorities.”
According to a government regulatory official, EU member states hope to adjust their own policies, but this will take time.
The official stated that the EU member states’ goal is not to punish OpenAI or establish rules that would affect OpenAI but to develop a “transparent” universal policy.
The official added that the participants in Thursday’s meeting included policy experts in artificial intelligence but no decision-makers and that they presented and exchanged their respective views.
The EDPB is an independent organization responsible for overseeing data protection rules within the European Union and comprises data protection supervisory agencies in various European countries.
Earlier this week, Spain submitted an application to discuss the ChatGPT issue, and the EDPB subsequently added the issue to its agenda for discussion.
