In the celebration of the Google I/O event that took place last Wednesday, the American multinational detailed, among many other factors, how the evolution of Bard will be, its conversational assistant based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The fact was received with great expectation, but what was truly striking was the list of the 180 countries in which it will be possible to access it.
Among the list of admitted territories, the exclusion Canada and all 27 member states of the European Union (EU), a fact that responds to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the community itself. In this sensethe EU presents user privacy and data protection policies stricter than the company of the well-known search engine.
However, Google still maintains a glimmer of hope and it has announced that they intend to gradually expand to more countries based on local regulations, while the Artificial Intelligence of the European Union is in the process of transformation.
Google Bard to compete with OpenaAI’s ChatGPT
In recent times, Google has seen its position in jeopardy with the agreement signed between Microsoft and OpenAI and the rise of ChatGPT. Given this fact, the American has decided to take a step forward in this battle and thus preserve the hegemony of its web browser.
With the announcement of Bard, its new chatbot based on Artificial Intelligence, Google is preparing to be able to compete openly with ChatGPT. Among his many qualities, Bard will use LaMDA, a platform designed by Google for this purpose, with which his conversational chat will be much more mature and updated.
The problems that ChatGPT had set the precedent
Google’s decision not to be available in the European Union responds to the problems that the OpenAI chatbot had in Italy, and it is that not launching Bard in the territory of the European Union can prevent the company from going through situations similar to those that ChatGPT had to face to maintain availability in that country. The European country has very active privacy regulators and was a pioneer in restricting access to Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT.
The Italian government was adamant that the chatbot should comply with measures on transparency, the right of users, and the legal basis for processing for algorithmic training that relies on user data. Now ChatGPT is under investigation, and privacy regulators suspect that the OpenAI chatbot has included European personal data without prior consent.
Google is faced with the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union, which guarantees that when it comes to their own data, EU users have the right to access, rectification, deletion, limitation of treatment, data portability and opposition, and reject automated decision making.
European Regulation for Artificial Intelligence
The heyday of Artificial Intelligence patents in ChatGPT or Bard, has highlighted the need for this technology to have special regulation. So the European Parliament presented a few days ago a set of proposals to create a regulation for AI.
The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have further tightened the measures on Artificial Intelligence. Among proposals for such legislation, MEPs called for an obligation to include a notice that they are artificially generated content; the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of facial recognition, including what affects the police and security forces; and veto tools that allow us to identify human emotions.
The law will finally be voted on in June, so everything seems to indicate that Google is waiting to see how the situation in Europe turns out. Thus, the company has clarified that “Google is working to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and, once it has done so, Bard will be available in the countries of the European Union.”
As a result of this regulation, the company is aware that there is a possibility that they need Obtain additional licenses or certifications for Bard to operate in this countries.
