EU AI Act seen as a positive move by European business decision makers

Initially proposed in 2021, the EU AI Act has been designed to make sure AI is both developed and used safely and responsibly across Europe. Saidot’s research has found that the Act has been well received by businesses in general, as 82% of the business leaders agreed that AI governance and ethics are important, while 65% also confirmed that the responsible use of AI is important for their business too. A further 41% stated that one of their top priorities currently is to make sure they have the right AI governance in place within their organisation. General benefits of the Act that were highlighted by respondents include:

· 60% of business decision makers believe it will help put standards in place and ensure the fair use and practice of AI solutions

· 47% of business decision makers believe it will help to clarify the considerations that need to be taken to safely use AI

· 43% of business decision makers believe it will help to reduce risk for the deployment of AI solutions

Despite overwhelming positivity towards the AI Act, concerns still remain among business leaders, as only one third of respondents (33%) stated they have no concerns about the Act whatsoever. The biggest concerns highlighted were:

· 31% believe it will impact the competitive landscape for developing AI, and will favour the larger tech corporations

· 29% have concerns that the Act is too confusing, and it will be difficult to comply to its guidelines

· 18% said that the Act will stifle innovation for businesses in Europe

Preparing for the Act

Three years on from the initial introduction of the EU AI Act, and with final approval only passed this spring, the research found that a quarter (27%) of businesses have not started preparations for the EU AI Act yet. Core issues remain in the fact that 61% of business leaders still do not know enough about what the regulation will include to begin their journey towards compliance. Meanwhile, 30% of leaders stated that they do not currently have the skills or expertise within their organisation to ensure compliance with the new AI regulation. Despite this, two thirds of business leaders (68%) still believe that they will be able to achieve compliance within the next 12 months.

To support businesses in their preparation for the AI Act, Saidot recently launched the Saidot Library, a curated library of key AI governance knowledge. The library offers information on more than 80 AI policies and covers all the requirements of the EU AI Act, as well as sharing knowledge on AI-related risks, regulations, evaluations, and models. The tool has been designed to help businesses better understand regional and industry-specific requirements for AI systems, identify risks and mitigations, and learn how foundation models work and perform in different tasks. The Library Beta is free for businesses to sign up to and use here - https://saidot.ai/saidot-library/apply

Veera Siivonen, CCO and Partner at Saidot commented: “The EU AI Act represents a significant landmark in the development of AI regulation. It not only sets a precedent for how AI is governed within the EU, but it has the potential to also serve as a model for other regions globally.

“However, it is clear that a lot of uncertainty remains for businesses. Now that the plenary vote for the Act has officially been passed by the European Parliament, there should hopefully be more clarity on what to expect from the Act. For businesses to succeed in future, they will need to implement responsible governance processes while keeping up with the latest AI advances.”