Opinion: Artificial Intelligence now underpins many of our activities in public and private spheres, including work, education, travel, and leisure. But its rapid development and increased use has been led primarily by commercial interests rather than deliberative policy or legislative choices.
As a result, there is increasing unease about the impact on individual and collective human rights, such as privacy and freedom of expression, as well as intellectual property.
Recently, this concern has translated to a wave of global, regional, and domestic regulatory initiatives. The European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act, expected to enter into force in the next month, is groundbreaking in scope and scale.
This act pushes past previous global and national initiatives (such as responsible AI charters and ethical AI statements) to a comprehensive regulatory framework, including an enforcement and penalties regime.
Some New Zealand-based companies may incur specific compliance requirements (if their product is available on the EU market, or affects people in the EU), but of wider importance will be the act’s influence on global norms.
The EU is the largest single world market and a global standard setter. And given the closer links being forged through the New Zealand-EU Free Trade Agreement, New Zealand should monitor regulatory developments closely.
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