The rapid development of generative AI models in 2022 has considerably accelerated the development uses based on AI technologies. Thus, such uses and their regulation has become a major topic of discussion internationally.

Many questions arise, such as how to govern AI, what should be prohibited or authorized, and what precautionary measures should be taken. Varying approaches have been confronting the past months.

The European Union's AI Act, approved in 2023, is considered pioneering in this field. However, there is ongoing debate on how to regulate generative AI, with some advocating for self-regulation and others pushing for strict supervision.

Our speaker, Raja Chatila and Thomas Barreau will explore those questions with us, confronting their views on AI and Generative AI regulation.

• How should AI be regulated? What governance framework should be put in place? What should be prohibited, limited or authorized? What precautionary, transparency or control measures should be taken?
• How is AI regulated internationally? What are the different approaches? How is the European AI Act a pioneering text in this field? 
• How should generative AI be regulated? What about open source models? 
• What are the prospects for European innovation in this sector? 

The emergence of generative AI models (ChatGPT, Bard and others) in 2022 considerably accelerated the development of uses based on AI technologies. Several countries and international organizations began to consider a regulatory framework to prevent future harmful uses. The European Union, for its part, has been reflecting on this subject since 2021, when discussions around the AI Act began. Approved at the end of 2023, this regulation is a major step forward in the field. However, many points of divergence remain, particularly when it comes to regulating generative AI.

Raja Chatila is a professor emeritus at Sorbonne University. He has been chair of the IEEE Global Initiative on the Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems since 2016 and has been a member of France's National Digital Ethics Steering Committee since 2019. He also was co-chair of the Responsible AI Group of the Global Partnership on AI (2020-2023) and a member of the High Level Expert Group on AI to the European Commission (2018-2020).

Thomas Barreau is a public Affairs specialist with expertise on tech topics. He has been the chief lobbyist of the European startup ecosystem on the AI Act. His role consisted in raising awareness on startups' concerns and favour the emergence of European AI champions. He also was the Convenor of a Task Group dedicated to European SMEs and startups' needs regarding AI Standards within the CEN-CENELEC.