Legislators across the globe are tussling with artificial intelligence. Early efforts are voluminous but hardly speedy. The EU’s AI Act, first out of the blocks, runs to 144 pages. Regulation lags behind innovation by a country mile. The EU was obliged to add in a chapter for generative AI part way through its process. 

True, few economic, financial and societal issues are untouched by the peripatetic technology. That requires a lot of guardrails.

Unlike the principle-based approach taken by the EU towards data in General Data Protection Regulation — GDPR — the AI Act takes a product safety approach, similar to regulation of cars or medical devices, say. It seeks to quantify and address risks, with standards met and verified prior to market launch. Think test crashing a car model before its rollout.