The AI Act vote passed with an overwhelming majority, and has been heralded as one of the world's most important developments in AI regulation. The European Parliament's president, Roberta Metsola, described it as "legislation that will no doubt be setting the global standard for years to come." Don't hold your breath for any immediate clarity, though. The European system is a bit complicated. Next, members of the European Parliament will have to thrash out details with the Council of the European Union and the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, before the draft rules become legislation.

It's a big call, and I will happily admit that I've had some people snicker at this statement. "You're grandstanding!" they say, "That's unbelievable!" And whilst it may feel like a dramatic statement, I stand by it. If anything, I consider it to be an understatement when you assess the reality of exponential and combinatorial technological change. When AI (artificial intelligence) meets HI (human intelligence), business, as usual, is dead.

From September 23 to 28, 2019, the Markkula Center's Director of Technology Ethics, Brian Green, attended two Vatican-sponsored meetings on AI. AI and Faith, an organization seeking to promote conversations about AI with religious organizations, interviewed Dr. Green on his experience. This interview is cross-posted on the Markkula Center website from AI and Faith with permission. First, Brian, please summarize your background for us, especially as it relates to AI. What, particularly, has drawn you to the topic of ethical AI? I have been working on technology ethics issues, including AI, for about 15 years, starting with my graduate studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where I had a strong focus on biotechnology and ethics.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is trying to distinguish the business technology giant from its technology brethren by focusing on digital privacy. This year, Microsoft's big coder conference was sandwiched between Facebook's annual F8 developer conference last week and Google's upcoming Google I/0 event, starting later this week. Part of Nadella's opening talk centered on user privacy, which Nadella referred to as "a human right," echoing Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent public comments in the aftermath of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. Both Microsoft and Apple (aapl) stand to benefit and win public trust if they can portray their companies as bastions of user privacy compared to companies like Facebook (fb) and Google (goog). All of these giant tech companies are amassing large quantities of data that they in turn use to improve their respective artificial intelligence technologies--these AI technologies are then used to create more compelling products, like Amazon's Alexa digital assistant, for example.

There has been no killer gadget at this year's International CES technology show. Instead, something more subtle has become the keystone of the tech world. Yes, even that idea may sound a bit old hat, for those who've been paying attention. Techies have been talking about connected gadgets and the potential centralizing power of artificial intelligence for years now. The difference is at this year's show is that we're seeing so many high quality gadgets that actually live up to that promise.

The Google Pixel phone is finally here, and it's bringing AI with it. The latest pure Android smartphone was announced at a Google event on Tuesday, along with a new Daydream View virtual reality (VR) headset, a new Google Wi-Fi router, and a new Chromecast. Google CEO Sundar Pichai opened the event, explaining the transition from PC to web, and now web to mobile. He then spoke about how Google believes the tech world is in the midst of a transition from "mobile-first to AI-first." That AI focus is built around Google Assistant, Google's personal assistant that was unveiled in May.