The European Union (EU) has urged Online platforms, including Google and Meta, to increase their efforts to combat fake information by adding labels to Content created by artificial intelligence (AI).
According to an AP report, EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said the use of advanced AI chatbots capable of generating complex content in seconds posed “fresh challenges for the fight against disinformation”. Jourova requested that the tech companies signed up to the bloc’s voluntary agreement on combating fake news work to tackle the AI issue. Companies that integrate generative AI should build safeguards to prevent the creation of disinformation, she said.
Online platforms that have the ability to spread AI-generated fake news should introduce technology to “recognise such content and clearly label this to users”, Jourova added. Companies including Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Bard chatbot must prevent “malicious actors” from generating fake news, she said. Google, Microsoft, Meta and TikTok had yet to respond to the request, according to the report. Jourova said that while EU regulations were designed to protect free speech, “I don’t see any right for the machines to have the freedom of speech”.
The EU has taken a leading role in the global movement to regulate AI with its AI Act, but the legislation still requires final approval and will not come into effect for several years. The rapid rise of generative AI technology, which can produce human-like text, images and video, has both impressed and alarmed observers. Recent examples of debunked deepfakes have included a realistic image of Pope Francis in a white puffy jacket and a photograph of billowing black smoke next to a building accompanied by a claim that it showed an explosion near the Pentagon.
