AI experts call to curb mass surveillance

The EU's top AI experts say regulation should focus on high-risk applications. Europe needs rules to make sure artificial intelligence won't be used to build up a China-style high-tech surveillance state, the European Union's top AI experts warn. An expert panel is set to present to the bloc's leaders a list of 33 recommendations on how to move forward on AI governance Wednesday, including a stark warning against the use of AI to control and monitor citizens. In a 48-page final draft of the document, obtained by POLITICO, the experts urge policymakers to define "red lines" for high-risk AI applications -- such as systems to mass monitor individuals or rank them according to their behavior -- and discuss outlawing some controversial technology. "Ban AI-enabled mass-scale scoring of individuals," the expert group demands, adding that there needs to be "very clear and strict rules for surveillance for national security purposes and other purposes claimed to be in the public or national interest."