The recently adopted AI Act is an important and correct step towards the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The Act is intended to ensure that AI systems are trustworthy and safe and at the same time promote Europe's ability to innovate. The setup of the law is a novelty in its form: for the first time, a technology is not regulated vertically, but horizontally across all areas - the AI Act must therefore be assessed individually within these areas and put into practice.
I think it is absolutely right that the resolution focusses primarily on high-risk issues, i.e. those that involve restrictions on personal rights. We have to be careful how we deal with such issues. AI is ultimately a tool - and just as for other potentially dangerous tools, a set of rules must be found for its use. But what I would also like to see is the right amount of pragmatism!
I hope that we really do give the experts the technical space they need and don't rely too much on testing institutes or further bureaucratic hurdles, which will be decisive in the end.
In any case, it is good to provide a framework and we now also have a feeling for potential sources of danger. Nevertheless, we have to make sure that the pace of innovation on the application side is not slowed down.
I have been working in the field of AI for many years now and I know from my own experience that it takes courage to really push the whole topic forward and utilize AI for yourself.
Even though Europe is the world leader in the field of regularities, it is not the rules that are holding us back, but a lack of courage. We should release the brakes in our heads and rediscover the courage to innovate and, to a certain extent, the courage to fail.
The AI Act is a set of rules that creates an important framework - every game has its rules and can still be played in all directions.
As the AI Act regulates across all verticals, of course it also has an impact on mechanical engineering and robotics. Nevertheless, it is important to say at this point that we are not talking about high-risk applications here, because the machinery directive already enforces critical issues such as machine safety. The AI Act has implications in every area, so it is important to sensitize individuals and find an ethically correct yet pragmatic approach for each application field."
