Regulate AI? How US, EU and China Are Going About It

Governments don’t have a great track record of keeping up with emerging technology. But the complex, rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence raises legal, national security and civil rights concerns that can’t be ignored. The European Union passed a sweeping law that would put guardrails on the technology; in China, no company can produce an AI service without proper approvals. The US is still working on its regulatory approach. While Congress considers legislation, some American cities and states have already passed laws limiting use of AI in areas such as police investigations and hiring, and President Joe Biden directed government agencies to vet future AI products for potential national or economic security risks.

Already at work in products as diverse as toothbrushes and drones, systems based on AI have the potential to revolutionize industries from health care to logistics. But replacing human judgment with machine learning carries risks. Even if the ultimate worry — fast-learning AI systems going rogue and trying to destroy humanity — remains in the realm of fiction, there already are concerns that bots doing the work of people can spread misinformation, amplify bias, corrupt the integrity of tests and violate people’s privacy. Reliance on facial recognition technology, which uses AI, has already led to people being falsely accused of crimes. A fake AI photo of an explosion near the Pentagon spread on social media, briefly pushing US stocks lower. Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft, IBM and OpenAI have encouraged lawmakers to implement federal oversight of AI, which they say is necessary to guarantee safety.