Once again, you don’t need AI to harm people, but the EU still doesn’t realise it

Once again, malfunctioning software has caused damage on an international scale.
This is the case of the very recent flaw in a product of Crowdstrike, a well-known cybersecurity company, which, between 18 and 19 July 2024, paralysed machines running the Microsoft Windows operating system by Andrea Monti – Initially published in Italian by Italian Tech-La Repubblica Continue reading “Once again, you don’t need AI to harm people, but the EU still doesn’t realise it”

Is ChatGPT going to be blocked again in Italy?

It is an open secret that the Italian data protection authority is very interested in becoming the regulator for AI. They have started to appear in different areas, intervening as much as possible in the public debate. The OpenAI case is clearly part of this strategy by Andrea Monti – this is an abriged and edited version of a longer article publishe in Italian by Italian Tech – La Repubblica Continue reading “Is ChatGPT going to be blocked again in Italy?”

AI (non-)copyright. A US ruling apparently sets the record straight, but negatively affects content-creators

Last August 18, 2023, a ruling of US District Court for the District of Columbia in the Civil Action No. 22-1564 (BAH) denied copyright protection to an image generated with an AI in execution of the input (‘prompt’) of the user. At a first glance the ruling looks correct, however it is questionable because there are are many examples of copyrighted non-AI- generated content made without human intervention. The main problem with this ruling, indeed, is that it looks at the matter from the (wrong) perspective of the ‘AI subjectivity’ rather than the economic value of the final product by Andrea Monti – initially published in Italian on Strategikon – an Italian Tech Blog Continue reading “AI (non-)copyright. A US ruling apparently sets the record straight, but negatively affects content-creators”

ChatGPT Block. Why the Italian Data Protection is wrong

The “ChatGPT block” was ordered on 30 March 2023 by the Italian data protection authority on the grounds that the data used to train the model had been collected without informing the people to whom it related and without verifying their age. This, according to the order, exposes minors who use the service “to answers that are totally inappropriate to their level of development and self-awareness”.

The order, it must be said, is highly questionable from a technical, legal and cultural point of view. It reveals, on the one hand, the weakness of the national data protection authorities in dealing with the matter and, on the other hand, the substantial inapplicability of the ‘privacy protection’ legislation. Finally, it triggers a very dangerous reciprocity mechanism whereby other countries with similar regulations – including Russia and China – could use them as a ‘legal’ tool to target companies on this side of the new Iron Curtain by Andrea Monti Continue reading “ChatGPT Block. Why the Italian Data Protection is wrong”