EU agrees on AI Act, Elon Musk to ensure Grok remains politically unbiased, and other AI updates you might have overlooked today

Today, December 9, marks a significant milestone in the field of artificial intelligence, as a major regulatory obstacle has been overcome. Europe has reached a provisional agreement on groundbreaking European Union (EU) regulations that govern the use of AI, commonly referred to as the AI Act, following over a year of debates, protests, and discussions. Additionally, a user on X platform pointed out that Grok, the xAI chatbot, has a left libertarian political bias, prompting Elon Musk to assure that immediate measures will be implemented to ensure the chatbot’s political neutrality. These stories and more are covered in today’s AI roundup. Let’s delve deeper into the details.

The EU has an important agreement on artificial intelligence law

Europe reached an interim agreement on Friday on major European Union regulations on the use of artificial intelligence, Reuters reports. The agreement covers several aspects, including the use of AI governance in biometric surveillance and the regulation of AI systems such as ChatGPT. The move puts the EU at the forefront of implementing AI laws, making it the first major global power to do so. The agreement was reached after nearly 15 hours of negotiations and an extensive 24-hour discussion. The details of the final law have yet to be finalized, and additional discussions will take place in the coming days that may affect the final form of the regulations.

“Europe has positioned itself as a pioneer and understood the importance of its role as a creator of global standards. This is, I believe, a historic day,” European Commission member Thierry Breton said at a press conference.

Elon Musk promises to make Grok politically neutral

Elon Musk has announced immediate steps to make his AI chatbot Grok more politically neutral, responding to findings that it expressed political views similar to ChatGPT. Researcher David Rozado highlighted the similarity of the political compass test results of the two chatbots, indicating leftist and libertarian leanings. Musk acknowledged the problem and promised to address it immediately, stressing the importance of political neutrality in AI applications. The move comes after Rozado’s comparison showed that Grok ranked more to the left than ChatGPT in the test.

Responding to Rozado’s post, Musk said, “This chart overstates the situation, but we are taking immediate action to move Grok closer to politically neutral.” He later also emphasized, “This test doesn’t seem accurate. Some of the questions are downright ridiculous, and many lack nuance.”

Artificial intelligence can be a game changer in heart disease screening

According to a Fox Business report, heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, is driving an innovative effort at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where artificial intelligence is being used to screen for heart problems. The goal of this initiative is to improve early detection and potentially save lives. Recent tragedies, including the death of a member of the University of Minnesota-Duluth football team due to an undetected genetic heart condition, highlight the importance of effective screening. AI, trained by cardiologists like Dr. Michael J. Ackerman, believes that AI can be a game changer in the treatment of heart disease. AI currently analyzes 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs or EKGs) to identify more than a dozen heart conditions, offering a promising advance in proactive heart health management.

SC judge is worried about deep fakes

Supreme Court Justice Hima Kohli expressed concern over the rise of sexual harassment on social media and raised alarms about the impact of deep-faking technology on privacy, security and misinformation, reported PTI. Speaking at an event on harassment and discrimination, Justice Kohli noted the changing role of social media in communication and its impact on shaping the dynamics of harassment, particularly in relation to gender-based abuse of power.

“At the same time, the emergence of a type of artificial intelligence, deepfake technology, is a matter of deep concern. Its potential to easily create highly realistic content is ground-breaking in the entertainment industry, but it also raises alarms about privacy and security risks and the spread of misinformation,” he said.

Google is working on an artificial intelligence project to tell people’s life stories using phone data and photos

Google is working on a new Gemini AI project. Named after literary critic Richard David Ellmann, Project Ellmann aims to develop a chatbot using users’ search results and photos to answer complex questions about their lives, according to a report by The Verge. It categorizes life’s moments into chapters, allowing users to inquire about specific details, such as pet ownership or sibling visits. Google acknowledges Ellmann as an early internal experiment and said it would prioritize user privacy if features like Ellmann’s are implemented in the future, the report revealed.