Alex Trelinski
SPAIN will dole out big fines to companies that use artificial intelligence(AI) content without labelling it as such.
Congress has passed a bill regulating how AI is used which will now go to the Senate.
The measure is all about curbing ‘deepfake’ videos and takes its template from the EU’s AI Act which demands stricter transparency over what is published.
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Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez said: “AI is a very powerful tool that can be used to improve our lives or to spread misinformation and attack democracy.”
Spain is among the first countries in the EU to introduce an AI law.
Lopez added that everyone was susceptible to ‘deepfake’ attacks via bogus images and videos generated via AI algorithms.
Spain’s measure classifies non-compliance with proper labelling of AI-generated content as a ‘serious offence’ with fines of up to €35 million euros or 7% of a company’s annual global turnover.
The bill also bans other practices, such as the use of subliminal techniques – sounds and images that are imperceptible – to manipulate vulnerable groups.
Lopez referred to chatbots inciting people with addictions to gamble or toys encouraging children to perform dangerous challenges as examples.
It would also stop organisations from classifying people through their biometric data using AI, rating them based on their behaviour or personal traits to grant them access to benefits or assess their risk of committing a crime.
But authorities would still be allowed to use real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces for national security reasons.
The new AI rules will be supervised by a new agency called AESIA, except in specific cases involving data privacy, crime, elections, credit ratings, insurance or capital market systems, which will continue to be monitored by existing watchdogs.
