The European Union has published the full and final text for the EU AI Act in its Official Journal, as reported by TechCrunch. Since the new law will come into force 20 days after its publication, that means it will be enforceable starting on August 1. All its provisions will be fully applicable in two years' time, but some of them will be implemented much earlier than that. Six months from now, the bloc will start implementing bans on prohibited applications for AI, such as the use of social credit ranking systems, the collection and compilation of facial recognition information for databases, as well the use of real time emotion recognition systems in schools and workplaces. In nine months, the EU will start implementing codes of practice on AI developers.

One city's fight to solve its sewage problem with sensors On good days, just before each line ends, a vertical throttle pipe diverts the sewage into an interceptor tube, which carries it to a treatment plant where solid pollutants and bacteria are filtered out. As in many American cities, those pipes are combined with storm drains, which can fill rivers and lakes with toxic sludge when heavy rains or melted snow overwhelms them, endangering wildlife and drinking water supplies. But city officials have a plan to make its aging sewers significantly smarter. These kind wildlife workers in Virginia really went above and beyond to look after an orphaned fox kit. This version of Smells Like Teen Spirit is banging.

Click to learn more about author Anne Hardy. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the future – it's already in our homes, cars, and pockets. As technology expands its role in our lives, an important question has emerged: What level of trust can – and should – we place in these AI systems? Trust is the very question the European Union (EU) Commission has set out to answer under its newly proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, stated that trust is a must with AI.

Over the last few weeks, regulators and lawmakers around the world have made one thing clear: New laws will soon shape how companies use artificial intelligence (AI). In late March, the five largest federal financial regulators in the United States released a request for information on how banks use AI, signaling that new guidance is coming for the finance sector. Just a few weeks after that, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an uncharacteristically bold set of guidelines on "truth, fairness, and equity" in AI -- defining unfairness, and therefore the illegal use of AI, broadly as any act that "causes more harm than good." The European Commission followed suit on April 21 released its own proposal for the regulation of AI, which includes fines of up to 6% of a company's annual revenues for noncompliance -- fines that are higher than the historic penalties of up to 4% of global turnover that can be levied under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For companies adopting AI, the dilemma is clear: On the one hand, evolving regulatory frameworks on AI will significantly impact their ability to use the technology; on the other, with new laws and proposals still evolving, it can seem like it's not yet clear what companies can and should do.

Over the last few weeks, regulators and lawmakers around the world have made one thing clear: New laws will soon shape how companies use artificial intelligence (AI). In late March, the five largest federal financial regulators in the United States released a request for information on how banks use AI, signaling that new guidance is coming for the finance sector. Just a few weeks after that, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an uncharacteristically bold set of guidelines on "truth, fairness, and equity" in AI -- defining unfairness, and therefore the illegal use of AI, broadly as any act that "causes more harm than good." The European Commission followed suit on April 21 released its own proposal for the regulation of AI, which includes fines of up to 6% of a company's annual revenues for noncompliance -- fines that are higher than the historic penalties of up to 4% of global turnover that can be levied under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For companies adopting AI, the dilemma is clear: On the one hand, evolving regulatory frameworks on AI will significantly impact their ability to use the technology; on the other, with new laws and proposals still evolving, it can seem like it's not yet clear what companies can and should do.