Artificial intelligence: why the Google Bard chatbot is hitting France and the European Union

A real emotional uplift for French enthusiasts of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. During its annual Google I/O conference, the American company announced on Wednesday, May 10, the availability of its Bard conversational robot in 180 countries, but… not in France or its German or Spanish neighbors. Pressured by the advent of OpenAI and the Microsoft ChatGPT chatbot, the Alphabet group (Google’s parent company) responded with their own Bard interface, open to the public at the end of March, but only in the US and UK. applicants on the waiting list.

Looking at the details of the list of affected new territories, we find AI research heavyweights like Israel or Singapore, as well as more modest countries like Papua New Guinea or Tanzania. In fact, no country in the European Union, not even English-speaking Ireland, is included in this list of privileges.

Waiting for compliance

When asked for Le Parisien, Google France clarifies that “France has not yet been announced. We are working closely with experts and policy makers to ensure Bard meets local requirements.” “They are rolling out gradually out of a precautionary approach, ensuring a good reception in English-speaking countries while continuing to work on the moderation capabilities of the chatbot in other languages,” emphasizes Nicolas Gaudenet, Executive Director in charge of artificial intelligence at onepoint. solid.

Bard’s initial launch was marred by a blunder: a chatbot erroneously claimed that the James Webb Telescope was the first observatory to photograph a planet outside the solar system. It was enough to “google” the question to understand it and avoid the wrath of astronomers around the world. The mistake cost a hundred billion dollars in stock market devaluation, and the lesson seems to have been learned. The American company is now walking on eggshells.

The main reason for this “forgetfulness” could be primarily purely economic. A European regulation, the AI ​​Law, is being discussed, which could thwart Bard’s plans on the old continent. “Everything done in the field of AI must comply with the principles of the GDPR on the protection of personal data, consent and the right to be forgotten. This regulation is clearly unfavorable for him,” emphasizes Arno Müller, director of strategy at Cleyrop, a data storage specialist.

“Google is anticipating problems with its rollout in the spring of 2024. Why launch a product with a big commercial effort in just a few months? points to this expert who, together with the lobbyist France Digitale, contributed to the work of the European Parliament.

European legal framework under development

When addressed, the European Commission “does not comment on individual decisions of companies, much less reflects on the possible reasons for these decisions,” but unofficially, the decision clearly takes into account the current phase of negotiations.

“It is likely that this has cooled Google, because the Bard robot must use data collected in violation of current European law for its conversations,” MEP Sandro Gozi slips. In a curious turn of events, on Thursday morning the draft received a green light from members of a parliamentary committee in Strasbourg, to be approved at a plenary meeting in June. This legal framework, unveiled by the European Commission in April 2021, aims for the first time in the world to limit the overuse of artificial intelligence (AI) while enabling innovation. “We do not want to block investments and projects, but we are obliged to create a structure that will also apply to technologies developed in the next 3-4 years, with management that can interfere,” specifies Sandro Gozi, who voted for the text to the committee.

The heart of the project consists of a list of rules that are imposed on all systems used in important areas such as critical infrastructure, education, human resources, law enforcement, or migration management. Google also certainly took Italy’s ChatGPT ban as a warning shot and wary of similar treatment for Bard, its colt in the frenzy of AI innovation.