EU AI Act comes into force!

So now the time has come… As of today, February 2, the EU AI Act (also known as the AI Regulation) has come into force!

𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯 𝗷𝗲𝘁𝘇𝘁 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗲𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮ß𝗻𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗺𝘇𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗻, 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗜 𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗻.

For example, 𝗞𝗜-𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗵𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗺 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗸𝗼 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻 – this means that social scoring or the use of manipulative technologies is no longer permitted in the EU, that use AI to influence or monitor people’s decisions or opinions. Such systems may neither be developed nor used.

In the second stage, the 𝗛𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗸𝗼-𝗞𝗜-𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻, things get more exciting for us… because it actually affects a lot of companies here in Germany too. This includes, for example, systems in personnel recruitment, diagnostics, education, the military, infrastructure and medicine. In other words, precisely the sectors in which German industry has set its priorities.

Here, companies are obliged to introduce AI systems to 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻, their 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘇𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗻 and corresponding (whatever that means exactly) 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻. In addition, (!) employees must have the necessary 𝗞𝗜-𝗞𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗲𝘯 and be trained accordingly.

𝗣𝘂𝗵. 𝗗𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝘂̈𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿!

So we not only have the obligation to know, evaluate, monitor and document all systems, but also to organize mandatory employee training (have fun, HR). When I look around, very few companies are really prepared for this.

Unfortunately, there are severe penalties…. Violations of the control and documentation obligation in the high-risk area can be penalized with up to 15 million euros or 3% of the annual turnover – theoretically from now on!

𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘇𝘂 𝘁𝘂𝗻: 𝗞𝗜-𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗸𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻, 𝗘𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝘇 𝘃𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗜-𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗯𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗳𝘂̈𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂̈𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻.

Sounds simple…. but you need someone who knows about AI, who has a comprehensive mandate for the topic, has the backing of management and is equipped with a budget to implement the topics – at C-level this would be a CAIO…

𝗜𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗳𝗲𝗵𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗵𝗻𝗲𝗻: 𝗻𝗲𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮 𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀𝘁!