ChatGPT has been banned in Italy while the country’s data protection agency is investigating its collection of user information.
this chatbotoperated by OpenAI, and powered by Microsofthas surpassed 100 million monthly active users since its launch late last year.
it threatens to upend everything search engine to creative writing, despite persistent concerns about accuracy and bias.
On Friday, Italian authorities said it would be blocked pending an investigation into alleged violations of its data collection rules and failure to check the age of its users.
The software is supposed to be reserved for persons 13 years of age and older.
ItalyThe data protection agency also claimed that the San Francisco-based company had no “legal basis to demonstrate the mass collection and storage of personal data to ‘train’ the underlying algorithms to operate”.
This is the first such move by a national regulator against ChatGPT, which fell victim to a cybersecurity breach last week that exposed some user conversations and payment details.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The ban comes after EU law enforcement agency Europol warned that ChatGPT could be exploited by criminals to spread disinformation online.
Edward Machin, a data, privacy and cybersecurity lawyer at Ropes and Gray, said it was “not surprising” to see more regulators following Italy’s lead.
“It’s easy to forget that ChatGPT has only been widely used for a few weeks,” he said.
“Most users don’t pause to consider the privacy implications of their data being used to train the algorithms that underpin their products. While they may be willing to accept this trade-off, the charge here is that users are not being given the information to allow them to make informed decision, but what is more problematic is that there may not be a lawful basis for their data to be processed in any circumstances.”
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While ChatGPT has wowed many observers with its ability to write computer code, solve problems and pass the most demanding exams, the speed of its development and adoption has some worried.
Elon Musk Join a group of AI experts this week Calls for a moratorium on the training of systems such as ChatGPTthey are called large language models.
They are trained using a wealth of information (such as books) from the internet and elsewhere.
The letter, published by the Future of Life Institute and signed by more than 1,000 people, warns that “AI systems with human-competing intelligence could pose profound risks to society and humanity”.
It comes on the heels of OpenAI’s GPT-4, a new and improved version of the technology behind its chatbots.it is powered on Microsoft’s Bing search engine and are Add to Office apps like Teams and Outlook.
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The letter cites the work of four AI experts who have since distanced themselves from the phone.
Professor Emily Bender of the University of Washington said some of the claims were “unhinged”.