Industry experts say the European Union's AI law, when it comes into force in August, will have a big impact on companies in Channel countries that use the technology — a good one.
The law is the first of its kind from a major regulator and was passed in March 2024 to establish a common, comprehensive regulatory and legal framework on AI within the EU.
The new law will address the risks associated with the use of AI and ensure that the technology meets fundamental rights, safety and ethical principles, both in Europe and abroad.
It will be used to assess AI systems according to risk and regulate them accordingly, requiring suppliers, importers, distributors and deployers to meet various requirements.
Rodney Perry, head of data and analytics at Making Science, said the law will be a “game changer” for the AI landscape for both businesses and consumers, heightening the importance of transparency and safety. This is underscored by the fact that it will require developers to adhere to strict rules while also placing certain responsibilities on technology adopters to mitigate issues associated with high-risk AI systems.
“Companies that deploy AI tools in advertising will need to reevaluate their AI practices to ensure compliance,” Perry said. “The law's strict prohibitions on biometric classification, facial recognition databases and social scoring will force advertisers to shift to more ethical targeting and personalization strategies. Transparency requirements, especially around the publication of training data, may also impact how machine learning models are trained and utilized.”
“Consumers will feel the positive impact of these changes, benefiting from increased protections against AI manipulation practices and increasing trust in AI-driven services. Businesses must prepare now to meet these new standards. Leveraging a partner with the collaborative technology expertise can not only help companies comply with regulations, but also foster a trusted digital ecosystem that supports innovation and success.”
The right guardrails
Christophe Creuse, Marketing Director at MINT, said that as AI begins to impact various sectors, it is important to put in place the right guardrails and regulations to ensure the technology is not misused. In this sense, he said, it is important for private actors such as legislators to demonstrate that they understand the impact of AI and ensure safety while supporting its enormous business potential.
“The incremental approach that the EU AI bill is taking is also the right approach to allow innovation to flourish in the European Union,” Cruz said. “From a business perspective, we believe that AI should enhance human thinking, not replace it.”
“AI can process information much faster and significantly reduce tedious manual work, allowing humans to take over more strategic tasks. Decision-making needs to be supported by bringing intelligence to the vast amounts of data that companies have, but the final decision needs to be made by humans.”
“In the marketing world, decision makers are shifting their focus in using AI from creative tasks to optimizing processes and helping manage all aspects of the advertising workflow. The companies that will thrive are those that deploy the right strategies and foster a collaborative environment where humans can leverage AI to not only save time and reduce manual errors, but also open up new possibilities not possible in the pre-AI era.”
David Evans, vice president of product management at GoTo, said the law will not restrict AI innovation, but rather simply provide better governance of the technology and improve its application in a wide range of use cases, which he said will increase trust in AI and make it more successful.
“As EU officials have noted, this law is not the end of AI innovation, but the beginning of a journey towards better governance that balances efficiency with essential safeguards,” Evans said. “Strong regulation based on risk levels will only improve the positive use cases of AI in the IT sector and beyond. Trust is essential to the success of AI, and safeguards like these are a key way to deliver the benefits while minimizing potential threats as they evolve.”
