Imprisonment from one to five years for those who cause “unjust damage” using systems of artificial intelligence. Registration for systems such as chatbots for under 14s only with parental consent. One billion euro allocation, spread over the three-year period up to 2026, to support the development of startups in the sector and at least one company capable of becoming a leader in the national market. The Council of Ministers approved the bill on artificial intelligence to try to bring order to a sector with very different fields of application – from health to information to culture via security and defense – whose potential and implications are still to be explored.
The document tries to set some limits to the use of AI, specifies that artificial intelligence systems and models must be developed and applied with respect for human autonomy and decision-making power and must not jeopardize the democratic method of carrying out institutional and political life. The essential precondition is that cybersecurity must be ensured. For information, the intent is that AI systems are used, we read in the draft text, “without prejudice to the freedom and pluralism of the means of communication, freedom of expression, objectivity, completeness, impartiality and loyalty of information”.
The Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio he clarified that as regards crimes “for which it is possible that AI can intervene in an insidious way, an aggravating circumstance is foreseen”. The Minister of the Seal specified: “We are trying to seize the opportunity of AI both in the organization of offices and in research, without conditioning the magistrates, nor by substituting artificial intelligence for human intelligence.” And again: “Artificial intelligence systems are used exclusively for the organization and simplification of judicial work.”
For the Minister of Business Adolfo Urso: “The goal is to create an AI market that is fair, open and usable. We must involve SMEs in the AI-challenging innovation process.” The owner of Mimit recalled that “the provision directs 1 billion euros from the innovation fund to venture capital managed by Cdp to facilitate the birth and growth of start-ups operating in the sector. And then to allow the creation of a national champion of sector, as other countries are doing. These are the first resources, then we will see the other needs of the sector.”
Among those who worked most on the text is the undersecretary for Innovation Alessio Buttthe. “The bill unambiguously defines who develops the strategy, i.e. Palazzo Chigi, it will be updated every two years and submitted to government colleagues. We have thought of two authorities, Agid and Acn, already equipped with profiles that allow this type of supervision” . Butti added: “We decided not to adopt the Spanish model, the country that legislated on the subject before us. The national strategy aims to pay particular attention to man, brings together public administrations and private entities, promotes research, to provide the country with an industrial policy on AI, which does not exist today. Many things will be implemented with secondary rules, Prime Ministerial Decrees and regulations.”