«No to the market without brakes. We third way between the US and China»- Corriere.it

Pasquale Stanzione77 years old, president of the personal data authority, has taken on an important responsibility: he suspended access to the ChatGpt artificial intelligence application from Italy, the only country to practice blocking by law besides Russia, China , North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

President, what worries you most about ChatGPT: accessibility for minors, the suspicion that user data is used to train artificial intelligence, the risk of spreading false information?
«It is the plurality, the convergence and the seriousness of the implications of the possible violations that have led me to proceed on a precautionary, provisional and urgent basis. Then there was the ratification of the authority college and the start of a further investigation at European level, which is important to prevent the relevant risks for the users of this application. I emphasize that we are moving on the basis of the European Data Protection Regulation (Gdpr, ed)».

You have held meetings with the top management of OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT and GPT-4. Are they solving the problems you mentioned?
«The very fact of the comparison is indispensable in order to try to find a solution to the problem. The goal is to find an answer to the critical issues we have indicated, which is sustainable from a democratic point of view to reorient this tool – ChatGPT – towards a dimension compatible with the centrality of the person”.

Meanwhile, normal access is closed in Italy. Are you at least making progress?
«The verification of the user’s age is a relevant aspect, we asked the platform to indicate a method that reduces the risk of false declarations. And above all that users are clearly informed that their data is being used for a specific purpose, the training of the algorithm. We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30, if OpenAI is willing to take useful steps. It seems to me that there is on the part of the company, let’s see ».

Then you should also close TikTok, where millions of children declare false ages to access…
«Herein lies the technical difficulty: we are trying to get the platforms to study a safer method of verifying age. It has been thought to associate it with documentary elements, but even these ideas have drawbacks».

Have you had the opportunity to discuss the ban on ChatGPT with the government?
«The Guarantor is independent and autonomous, he is not required to comply with the majority or in search of likes. Of course, we have raised questions about artificial intelligence that go beyond data protection. It’s not about being neo-Luddites, innovation is fine. But it must be a tool, without oppressive purposes on the person”.

Do you really think you can block artificial intelligence in just one democratic country?
“Of course not. Ours, it should be specified, is a temporary limitation. We are dealing with a multinational that goes beyond the geographical borders and prohibitions of individual countries. But European rules, such as the Gdpr, are setting the standard in the world. Like Italy, we indicate a European way to artificial intelligence, which ignores the accentuated US liberalism as well as the autarkic sovereignty of China or North Korea and is located in the midst of this new cold war. Ours is an intermediate, tiring road for freedom, democracy and the dignity of the person in Europe”.

Meanwhile, German or French companies use ChatGpt and GPT-4 becoming more competitive than the Italian ones…
“It is true. But sacrificing rights and freedoms on the altar of the market is incompatible with our constitutional principles. Article 41 of the Constitution establishes that private economic initiative cannot take place in such a way as to cause damage to human freedom and dignity. A market based on forms of oppression would not be sustainable, it would not work. We cannot accept these forms of extractive capitalism.”

Couldn’t you at least have waited for a European decision, instead of unilaterally blocking it?
«There was an exceptional emergency situation, which did not allow us to wait. Recourse to a European decision would have involved at least a delay of three or four months. We therefore intended to prevent further highly probable violations. It was a presence of a smoke and of a danger of risks and damages for the protection of personal data”.

Why are you sure that OpenAI leverages the data entrusted to them by users? Do you have consultants for these analyses?
«The preliminary investigations conducted by the Authority naturally also verify complex technical aspects such as this one. We have highly qualified personnel also from this point of view».

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