Last week, the EU Parliament voted on the AI Act, which provides for comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence in Europe. In a press release, Bitkom President Dr Ralf Wintergerst commented on this topic and criticised the fact that companies could have less freedom to innovate.
"The AI Act provides an EU-wide regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, but leaves many crucial questions unanswered. Germany must now focus on a legally secure and innovation-friendly implementation. The German government must not repeat the mistakes of the General Data Protection Regulation and tighten the national regulatory corset so tightly that companies lack the freedom to innovate. The aim must be to create the conditions for German companies and start-ups to be able to compete on an equal footing with the strong international players in artificial intelligence."
EU AI Board must become operational quickly
According to Wintergerst, it is particularly important that a patchwork of individual national regulations does not emerge in Europe. The EU AI Board must therefore quickly become operational as a new central institution and ensure EU-wide coordination. For its part, the German government must immediately set the course for national implementation in order to be able to proactively contribute to the organisation of the EU AI Board. In the case of general purpose AI models, the newly established AI Office at EU level must organise the requirements for these basic AI models in a way that minimises bureaucracy and is practical.
"Germany must focus on the opportunities offered by AI. Only 13% of companies in Germany use artificial intelligence, although 82% recognise its importance for the future competitiveness of our economy. Generative AI - such as chatbots or tools for image generation - is only used centrally by 3% of all companies. The greatest challenge in the coming months and years will be to bring AI to the wider economy, society and administration. The German government must and can support this by implementing the AI Act in a way that promotes innovation," Wintergerst continues.
More information on the AI Act can be found here.
