Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TECH

EXPLAINED: Will ChatGPT return to Italy by the end of April?

ChatGPT could return to Italy soon if its maker, OpenAI, can satisfy a list of requirements from the Italian privacy watchdog after it blocked the use of the chatbot in the country last month.

Published: 13 April 2023 10:52 CEST
Updated: 18 April 2023 17:27 CEST
EXPLAINED: Will ChatGPT return to Italy by the end of April?
Italy's privacy watchdog in March blocked the AI chatbot ChatGPT, saying it did not respect user data and could not verify users' age. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

After Italy temporarily banned ChatGPT in March over data protection concerns, the popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot could be reinstated in the country by the end of April – provided it can follow a list of rules set by regulators.

Italy became the first Western country to restrict use of the technology amid growing concern about the implications of its widespread use.

READ ALSO: Italy blocks artificial intelligence app ChatGPT over data privacy failings

The head of Italy’s privacy watchdog said on Tuesday he was hopeful that OpenAI would adjust its chatbot so it could be back online in the country at the end of the month.

“We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30th, if there is a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps,” Data Protection Authority chief Pasquale Stanzione told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

“It seems that on the company’s side there is, we’ll see,” he said.

The Italian watchdog, known as Garante, last week outlined a set of requirements that US firm OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, will have to satisfy by April 30th.

San Francisco-based OpenAI, which had responded by proposing changes to ease the concerns, said on Wednesday it welcomed the Italian regulators’ move.

“We are happy that the Italian Garante is reconsidering their decision and we look forward to working with them to make ChatGPT available to our customers in Italy again soon,” OpenAI said in a statement.

There have been growing concerns around the artificial intelligence boom, with other countries including France and Canada also investigating or looking closer at so-called generative AI technology like ChatGPT. The chatbots are “trained” using huge pools of data, including digital books and online articles, and are able to generate text that mimics human writing styles.

Universities and some education authorities have banned the chatbot over fears that students could use it to write essays or cheat in exams.

And hundreds of experts and industry figures signed an open letter in March calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI systems, arguing they posed “profound risks to society and humanity”.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been temporarily blocked in Italy (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

Italian regulators suspended the use of ChatGPT after saying the company had no legal basis to justify “the mass collection and storage of personal data for the purpose of ‘training’ the algorithms underlying the operation of the platform”.

The watchdog said for ChatGPT to be reinstated OpenAI must post information on its website about how and why it processes the personal information of both users and non-users, as well as provide the option to correct or delete that data.

OpenAI will have to rely on consent or “legitimate interest” to use personal data to train ChatGPT’s algorithms, the watchdog said.

OpenAI also will have to carry out a publicity campaign by May 15th through radio and TV, newspapers and the internet to inform people about how it uses their personal data for training algorithms, Italy’s watchdog said.

The company will also be required to verify users’ ages and set up a system to filter out under-13s and teens aged between 13-18 who don’t have parental consent.

“Only in that case will the Italian SA (supervisory authority) lift its order that placed a temporary limitation on the processing of Italian users’ data … so that ChatGPT will be available once again from Italy,” the watchdog said.

The success of ChatGPT garnered OpenAI a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft, which uses the technology in its Bing search engine and other programs.

Other AI chat software remains available to use in Italy.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TECH

Why Google searches in Europe no longer show maps

New EU legislation has led to changes for internet users in Europe - including the way search results appear on Google.

Published: 7 March 2024 11:01 CET
Why Google searches in Europe no longer show maps

Internet users across the world have been accustomed to searching for addresses or locations on Google and immediately afterwards seeing Google Maps pop up in the results, allowing them with one click to be taken to the Maps page.

However, for people living in EU and EEA countries, this function stopped appearing in early March as a result of new EU regulations intended to decrease the ‘gatekeeping’ power of tech giants.

Now, when searching a specific address on your laptop, you will continue to see a small map in the centre of the screen, but will be unable to click on the map and be taken straight to Google Maps. The ‘Maps’ button that once appeared below the search bar, along with ‘Images’ or ‘News’ no longer appears either. 

Instead, you’ll need to head to the website www.google.com/maps or click ‘Directions’ to use the Maps function.

The change is most noticeable on a laptop or tablet device. When using searching an address on a smartphone, users may still be redirected to the Google Maps app when clicking the map image.

Why the change?

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was voted on in 2022, and the regulations contained in it became enforceable on Wednesday.

The goal of the legislation was to manage competition and end the domination of large tech companies, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance (TikTok) within the European market.

These tech giants have been accused of promoting their own services to the detriment of other similar options from competitors, as well as acting as gatekeepers to prevent other companies from entering or growing in the market.

The goal is also to offer consumers with more options.

For example, when searching for nearby bars or restaurants, the results might have taken the user directly to Google Maps instead of other sites, such as Yelp.

A representative from Google explained the French media Franceinfo: “As part of our efforts to comply with the Digital Markets Regulation, we have made a number of changes to the way search results are displayed, including removing certain features.

“Users in the EU will no longer see the ‘Maps’ shortcut at the top of the search page,” they said.

The European Commission’s objective was to allow the “10,000 other online platforms – mostly small and medium-sized enterprises – to operate on the digital market,” French media Le Point reported.

Are there any other changes related to this?

Yes – people in the EU/EEA may have noticed that they received a question from the ‘Messenger’ service asking if they want to create a new account or continue using the app with their existing Facebook account.

This is because Messenger and Facebook are technically different services now. The same goes for Instagram and Facebook.

Even though both are part of ‘Meta’, the company will have to offer people the choice to keep their accounts separate, in an effort to allow users to choose whether they want their personal data to be tracked across sites.

Similarly, people in the EU using Apple products will no longer have to go through the Apple App store to install apps – other options will be available.

For example, Microsoft is reportedly working on a rival ‘gaming’ app store.

Eventually, the DMA will also force messaging services to allow users to contact each other – so you would be able to send a message from one platform to another. 

Is this just in the EU?

As the Digital Markets Act is a piece of EU legislation, it only applies to the European Union and EEA countries. However, other countries, including South Korea, Japan and the UK, are looking into ways they might rein in tech giants with similar proposals.

SHOW COMMENTS