Italy’s data protection authority, Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali, is set to increase its control over artificial intelligence (AI) in light of the temporary ban on AI chatbot ChatGPT in March. Garante plans to review other AI platforms and hire additional AI experts to carry out this work. The aim is to understand whether new AI tools are compliant with privacy laws, with new investigations initiated if necessary.
Agostino Ghiglia, a board member of Garante, stated that the regulator had 144 employees, many of whom had legal backgrounds, and that further consultants were necessary to both support the regulator in its data protection activities and respond to the evolving field of AI.
Garante’s role has been elevated as tech companies speed up their AI developments and challenge regulators and governments to establish new AI regulations. As one of the most proactive of the 31 national data protection authorities overseeing the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Garante has already banned several AI chatbot companies, imposed fines on the facial recognition software maker Clearview AI and restricted TikTok in Europe, among other actions.
In March this year, Garante led the world as the first authority to temporarily ban ChatGPT and launch an investigation into alleged privacy violations. The ban was prompted by a security problem on the part of OpenAI. Garante found that the mass storage and use of personal data for training purposes was not transparent and did not adhere to the EU’s protection of personal data. The lack of an age filter to protect minors from disturbing content was also an issue.
Regulators’ dependence on existing laws to oversee new technologies such as AI has been seen as an example of the limitations of current regulations in controlling the impact of AI on the world of work and society at large. It may be several years before new AI regulations come into force to address these limitations.
