In March of 2024, the European Union made an early attempt at controlling the power of artificial intelligence. It ultimately failed but it was a valiant effort meant to “ prohibit certain uses of the technology and demand transparency from providers.” In a majority vote, 523 European Parliament members elected to formally adopt the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), vowing to work towards its enforcement and implementation.

Prohibited systems included “things like social scoring, emotion recognition at work or schools, or systems that are designed to influence behavior or exploit user vulnerabilities. Examples of “high-risk” AI systems include those applied to critical infrastructure, education, and vocational training, certain law enforcement systems, and those that can be used to influence democratic processes like elections.”

This was a long way from the Three Laws of Robotics that Isaac Asimov foresaw and could not possibly control the manifold ways AI would be used in nefarious ways, as it ultimately was at Symbiosys. This is a little reminiscent of Morgan Adam’s efforts as CSO (Chief Science Officer) at Symbiosys when he created MINERVA. You can ask LOIS about MINERVA if you’d like to learn more. Unfortunately, AIs move at blistering speed and learn far faster than old-fashioned human wetware.