Experts uncertain about impact of AI Act on EU tech firms

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 15 - Economists on both sides of the Atlantic are uncertain about the potential impact of European legislation regulating artificial intelligence (AI) on the tech sector in the EU.
    According to a survey carried out by the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, only 2% of those polled said they strongly agreed with the fact that the European legislation could substantially put European tech companies at a disadvantage compared to their competitors, while 16% said they disagreed with this forecast.
    Uncertainty however prevailed, with 31% of those interviewed saying they were undecided about the impact which the AI Act could have on the European tech sector and 35% failing to provide an answer.
    Economist Olivier Blanchard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, for instance, stressed how "the complexity of tasks necessary to satisfy the regulation", a huge framework of rules on artificial intelligence, could lead some companies to "move out of the EU".
    On the other hand, Jan Eeckhout, a professor at Barcelona's Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) said the so-called 'Brussels effect' could instead push tech companies to "adopt the EU's regulation at a global level".
    Experts also had a more positive opinion on the impact the AI Act could have on research and innovation.
    A reported 24% of those polled said they believe the European legislation could strengthen research and innovation, while 6% disagreed with such a forecast and 2% strongly disagreed.
    About 22% were undecided while the percentage of those who didn't respond remained unvaried, the poll found.
    Among sceptics, British economist Franklin Allen of Imperial College London said it is "very difficult to write a clear ensemble of rules for something as new and dynamic as AI".
    Chicago Booth professor Christian Leuz, instead, thought the new system of rules on AI "limits some developments and innovations, which can be adequate depending on externalities and risks".
    (ANSA).