The data protection agency of Italy decided this Friday (31/03) to temporarily ban the software ChatGPT, a chat system based on artificial intelligence (AI), and launched an investigation to investigate a suspected violation of data collection rules.
The American company OpenAI, responsible for ChatGPT, works without “any legal basis that justifies the mass collection and storage of personal data with the aim of 'training' the algorithms underlying the platform's operation”, stated the Guarantee for Personal Data Protection (GPDP).
The agency also highlighted the lack of clarity about what data was being collected. The wrong answers provided by the chatbot would suggest that the data is not being processed properly, and the company would be exposing children to “absolutely inappropriate responses”.
This is because the Microsoft-backed application would also not be verifying the age of its users, who must be 13 years old or over, GPDP accused. OpenAI now has 20 days to respond to the accusation and could receive a fine of 20 million euros or up to 4% of its annual worldwide revenue.
With the move, Italy became the first Western country to take action against an AI-powered chatbot. ChatGPT is also blocked in mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran and Russia, as well as parts of Africa.
Global sensation subject to criticism
ChatGPT made a global splash when it launched in 2022 for its ability to generate essays, music, and even news articles from brief requests. The runaway success earned OpenAI a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft, which uses the technology in its Bing search engine and other programs.
It has also sparked a mad dash among other technology companies, with competitors launching their own chatbots, and investors pouring money into all kinds of AI projects.
But critics express concern that it is unclear where ChatGPT and its competitors get their data and how they process it. Universities and some education authorities have banned the chatbot because they fear students might use it to write essays or cheat on exams.
The rapid development of technology has also attracted the attention of policymakers in many countries. Several experts call for new regulations to control AI, due to its potential impact on national security, jobs and education.
On Wednesday, an open letter signed by hundreds of experts and industry figures was released, calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI systems, arguing that they pose “profound risks to society and humanity”.
The letter was motivated by the launch, in early March, of GPT-4, a more powerful version of the software and with even less transparency about its data sources.
ChatGPT is estimated to have reached 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after its launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history, according to a study published in February.
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