The Italian Council of Ministers has given the green light this Wednesday to two legislative decrees aimed at framing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the tasks of security forces, in areas such as biometric controls and video surveillance systems.
"Today we have approved a measure that, for the first time, regulates the use of Artificial Intelligence by law enforcement agencies. The objective is to provide police forces with the most advanced tools to improve the effectiveness of their operations," said the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, at a press conference after the Council of Ministers.
In this regard, he stressed that "AI is an important tool to support police work," although he emphasized that it does not aim to "replace" human decisions. Likewise, he insisted that "mass surveillance or a generalized 'Big Brother' system is not contemplated and the use of large biometric databases is prohibited."
The two decrees authorize the use of AI systems by the Police as long as there is human supervision and their use is covered by a court order. With this regulation, the Executive led by Giorgia Meloni intends to incorporate into the Italian legal system the exceptions already contemplated in the European Union's regulatory framework.
On the other hand, the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Alfredo Mantovano, highlighted that Italy is "the first country" in the EU to adopt a national framework law for the regulation of AI, and assured that the spirit of the decrees "is in line" with the Pope's latest encyclical.