Re:ChatGPT broke the EU plan to regulate AI
by bobthepanda on Sunday March 05, 2023 @03:55PM
(#35033825)
Separating this into two responses.
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The problem with the first case is that we do not have existing case law about AIs, and we also have no laws on the books that clarify what to do in AI cases, so this is making the lawsuits and investigations very messy and time-consuming, since judges have to waffle about to figure out what the correct, legal thing to do is.
Pretty much all Western law systems judge the severity of action using intent, or mens rea; it doesn't absolve you of crime if you didn't mean to do it, but your penalties will generally be lesser. The people using the algorithm can wash their hands of intent by saying "we signed a contract with a third party for their algorithm and didn't reasonably expect biased outcomes." Then you make the third party a defendant, and then the third party claims "trade secrets" because we have no laws about what is and isn't protected trade secrets with AI, etc. and that becomes a whole legal case on its own that takes even more time for the legal system.
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The difference in the second case is that the corporate landlords in question are automatically pegging their rates to the algorithm's recommendation and not giving property managers discretion. The algorithm's customers combined also control over half of supply of apartments in the Seattle area.
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But the point of legal clarity, is to reduce the amount of questions, which both 1) heads off potential issues and 2) makes the issues that come into the legal system faster and clearer to process. It also potentially actually makes things easier for companies who make AIs too, since legal defense spending isn't exactly cheap.
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The problem with the first case is that we do not have existing case law about AIs, and we also have no laws on the books that clarify what to do in AI cases, so this is making the lawsuits and investigations very messy and time-consuming, since judges have to waffle about to figure out what the correct, legal thing to do is.
Pretty much all Western law systems judge the severity of action using intent, or mens rea; it doesn't absolve you of crime if you didn't mean to do it, but your penalties will generally be lesser. The people using the algorithm can wash their hands of intent by saying "we signed a contract with a third party for their algorithm and didn't reasonably expect biased outcomes." Then you make the third party a defendant, and then the third party claims "trade secrets" because we have no laws about what is and isn't protected trade secrets with AI, etc. and that becomes a whole legal case on its own that takes even more time for the legal system.
---
The difference in the second case is that the corporate landlords in question are automatically pegging their rates to the algorithm's recommendation and not giving property managers discretion. The algorithm's customers combined also control over half of supply of apartments in the Seattle area.
---
But the point of legal clarity, is to reduce the amount of questions, which both 1) heads off potential issues and 2) makes the issues that come into the legal system faster and clearer to process. It also potentially actually makes things easier for companies who make AIs too, since legal defense spending isn't exactly cheap.