Russia demonstrates how AI can be abused

Three significant gaps in the AI Act

 Posted on March 22, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  573 words  |  Marcel Kolaja

The forthcoming Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) is one step closer to its adoption. In mid-March, as the opinion rapporteur I presented the draft opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT). Remote biometric recognition, e-proctoring, and artificial intelligence in media. These are priorities for the upcoming negotiations that must not be forgotten in the proposal. Ban of facial recognition without exceptions At present, we can see how the Russian regime abuses facial recognition systems to detect protesters. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  facial recognition 

NGOs call for a ban on facial recognition without loopholes

The Commission's proposal could enable mass and discriminatory surveillance

 Posted on June 14, 2021  |  6 minutes  |  1195 words  |  Marcel Kolaja

Last week, digital rights and consumer protection organizations around the world called for a global ban on facial recognition technologies. As I already wrote in one of my previous articles, these systems can pose a risk to fundamental rights as they enable mass and discriminatory surveillance by both governments and corporations. Especially, the pandemic has opened the door to data collection and tracking on an unimaginable scale. How? NGOs raised their voice in favor of the ban The use of facial recognition technology is becoming widespread. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  facial recognition 

Leaked Commission's plan on artificial intelligence

Four significant gaps

 Posted on April 20, 2021  |  6 minutes  |  1258 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

The proposal of the Regulation on the European Approach for Artificial Intelligence was not to be published until April 21. However, last week, Politico published a leak of a regulation draft. Therefore, we can look at it under scrutiny now and analyze the key points that need to be changed. What is going on? The new legal framework should be given to artificial intelligence (AI). Although its use brings many benefits to the society; on the other hand, risks and threats as well. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  censorship  content moderation  FOSS  Free Software  open technologies  Open Source  transparency 

Artificial intelligence determines our lives

The risks associated with it must be addressed today

 Posted on March 10, 2021  |  3 minutes  |  580 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

Many of us imagine artificial intelligence (AI) as sci-fi characters like Terminator or Robocop. However, AI plays a crucial role in the digital transformation of society and is already part of our daily lives. Algorithms select suitable clothes for us, sort our CVs during hiring, or decide what content on social networks is displayed to us. Although we should move forward together with technological progress, we should also be aware of the possible threats that come from the development of artificial intelligence. [Read More]
artificial intelligence  facial recognition 

Position of the European Parliament on Artificial Intelligence

Disappointing in not addressing mass surveillance properly among others

 Posted on November 16, 2020  |  4 minutes  |  762 words  |  Marcel Kolaja

Last month, the European Parliament voted on several reports regarding the future legislation on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Namely, these were reports on the framework of ethical aspects of AI, robotics and related technologies, on the civil liability regime for AI, and on so-called intellectual property rights for the development of AI technologies. I voted against all these reports for numerous reasons. Let’s take a closer look at them. In many respects, these reports reacted to the white paper on AI: a European approach to excellence and trust, which the Commission published in February. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  facial recognition  FOSS  Free Software  Open Source  open technologies 

Who you gonna call?

Liability for Artificial Intelligence

 Posted on July 1, 2020  |  3 minutes  |  479 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

Much has already been said about the various cases of use of Artificial Intelligence and their merits in terms of how it can improve health care, correct driving of a vehicle, increase efficiency in farming, and more. However, wrong application of Artificial Intelligence might cause unintentional accidents too. That is where civil liability comes into question. The legal framework can ensure that victims are compensated for the harm they suffered and incentivize the liable party to avoid causing any damage. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  Free Software  FOSS  Open Source 

Censorship machine in action again!

 Posted on March 26, 2020  |  2 minutes  |  363 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

What happened? Last week, a couple of legitimate news articles and posts about COVID-19 disappeared from Facebook. My Facebook post raising awareness about the Union’s support for start-ups to fight COVID-19 got also caught up in this. Application for funds that were made available to support start-ups able to produce solution that could fight the virus was originally open until March 18, 2020. In an attempt to spread the news to all potential interested parties, several followers of mine notified me that they weren’t able to share my post raising awareness about this or links to Commission’s website. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  censorship  content moderation  COVID-19  Digital Services Act  TERREG 

Artificial Intelligence

The future European approach

 Posted on February 19, 2020  |  5 minutes  |  877 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

On February 19, the Commission presented its white paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI): a European approach to excellence and trust. As previously explained on my blog, the topic is not merely a techy issue, but already impacts the life of many of us, be it applying for a job, ordering food, or content moderation software, etc. The proposal is open for consultation for any interested stakeholder or individual. The deadline for your remarks is May 19, 2020, in case you’d like to comment on it. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  censorship  content moderation  facial recognition 

Automated Decision Making

 Posted on February 15, 2020  |  3 minutes  |  631 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

On Wednesday, February 2, 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Automated Decision Making (ADM) processes. In light of the upcoming Commission strategy on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the European Parliament sent a clear political message to the European Commission that, even though we strongly support the development of new technologies, the Parliament’s top priority has always been and will remain protection of consumers as well as fair treatment of all individuals. [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence  content moderation