A Proposal for a Definition of General Purpose Artificial Intelligence Systems

4 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2022

See all articles by Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez

Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law; RAND Corporation, Pardee RAND Graduate School, Students; Future of Life Institute

Anthony Aguirre

Future of Life Institute

Risto Uuk

Future of Life Institute

Claire Boine

University of Ottawa Faculty of Law; Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute

Matija Franklin

University College London - Department of Experimental Psychology

Date Written: October 5, 2022

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is in the middle of comprehensively regulating artificial intelligence (AI) through an effort known as the AI Act. Within the vast spectrum of issues under the Act’s aegis, the treatment of technologies classified as general purpose AI systems (GPAIS) merits special consideration. Particularly, existing proposals to define GPAIS do not provide sufficient guidance to distinguish these systems from those designed to perform specific tasks, denominated as fixed-purpose. Thus, our working paper has three objectives. First, to highlight the variance and ambiguity in the interpretation of GPAIS in the literature. Second, to examine the dimensions of generality of purpose available to define GPAIS. Lastly, it proposes a functional definition of the term that facilitates its governance within the EU. Our intention with this piece is to spark a discussion that improves the hard and soft law efforts to mitigate these systems’ risks and protect the well-being and future of constituencies in the EU and globally.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, European Union, governance of technology, technology risk management

Suggested Citation

Gutierrez, Carlos Ignacio and Gutierrez, Carlos Ignacio and Aguirre, Anthony and Uuk, Risto and Boine, Claire and Franklin, Matija, A Proposal for a Definition of General Purpose Artificial Intelligence Systems (October 5, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4238951 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4238951

Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosig/

RAND Corporation, Pardee RAND Graduate School, Students ( email )

1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
United States

Future of Life Institute ( email )

United States

Anthony Aguirre

Future of Life Institute ( email )

Risto Uuk

Future of Life Institute ( email )

Claire Boine

University of Ottawa Faculty of Law ( email )

2292 Edwin Crescent
Ottawa, Ontario K2C 1H7
Canada

Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute ( email )

University of Toulouse
Toulouse
France

Matija Franklin

University College London - Department of Experimental Psychology ( email )

United Kingdom

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