The US company OpenAI, owner of the conversational bot ChatGPT, made a commitment to the Italian authorities to reinforce transparency in the use of personal data and guarantee it for minors after being blocked in Italy for violating legislation on personal data. The Italian Authority for the Protection of Personal Data announced that the company must send a document indicating the measures required by the Authority, which reserves the right to evaluate the measures proposed by the company before deciding to lift the blocking of ChatGPT in Italy.
Italy was the first country in Western Europe to block the conversational bot ChatGPT due to the lack of an age verification system for underage users and the lack of a legal basis to justify the massive collection and retention of personal data to train the platform’s algorithms.
ChatGPT, launched in November, was quickly adopted by users impressed by its ability to answer difficult questions, write sonnets, and even pass exams. The company is funded by Microsoft and bills itself as a potential competitor to Google’s search engine.
In addition, Italy’s data protection agency also banned artificial intelligence company Replika from using the personal data of Italian users because some users had complained of receiving overly risqué messages and images, close to sexual harassment.
The European Union is preparing a draft law to regulate artificial intelligence, which could be ready by the end of 2023 or early 2024 and be implemented in a few years.