Artificial Intelligence is everywhere: the rise of "thinking" machines has been one of the defining developments of the past two decades – and will only become more prominent as computing power increases. The European Union has been working on a framework to regulate AI for some time, starting way back in March 2018, as part of its broader Digital Decade regulations. Work on AI regulations has been relatively slow while the EU focuses on the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, which focus on reigning in the American tech giants, but the work definitely continues. Any worthwhile legislative process should be open to critique and analysis and the EU's AI Act is undergoing a thorough treatment by the UK-based Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent research institution working on data policy. The full report (via TechCrunch) includes a lot of detail on the pros and cons of the regulation, which is a global first, with the main takeaway is that the EU is setting itself up to have some pretty powerful tools at its disposal.

European Union (EU) lawmakers have introduced new rules that will shape how companies use artificial intelligence (AI). The rules are the first of their kind to introduce regulation to the sector, and the EU's approach is unique in the world. In the US, tech firms are largely left to themselves, while in China, AI innovation is often government-led and used regularly to monitor citizens without too much hindrance from regulators. The EU bloc, however, is taking an approach that aims to maximise the potential of AI while maintaining privacy laws. There are new regulations around cases that are perceived as endangering people's safety or fundamental rights, such as AI-enabled behaviour manipulation techniques.

Smartphone owners are being given new rights to have their device repaired under laws introduced by the EU that could put an end to'throwaway culture'. Manufacturers will made to fix broken electronic devices under the EU's new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), which will also cover the UK despite Brexit. The plan, unveiled on Wednesday by the European Commission, will give Europeans'the right to repair' by making devices easier to fix. The laws, which will also apply to tablets, laptops and printers, focus on a more circular economy – where electronic resources are kept in use as long as possible. Major tech companies making devices hard to fix, including Apple, Samsung and Huawei, is creating an electronic and electrical rubbish mountain – wasting resources and blighting the environment, say green campaigners.

You may perhaps have become aware of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, via business briefings and media advertising, is increasingly highlighting this new European Union regulation, which comes into effect on May 25th. The GDPR preamble asserts: "The protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data is a fundamental right." The key theme is that each of us owns our own data. Any company must therefore explicitly request permission to use any of our personal data, explaining why it would like to do so, and for how long.