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‘2023: A Wait Odyssey’ – how much longer can Danish companies wait for EU’s AI regulations?

Ramisha Ali
May 19th, 2023


This article is more than 1 year old.

Following Samsung’s data leak to ChatGPT, demand for a swift upgrade of the digitalisation laws is growing

Is AI safe? (photo: Pixabay)

At a recent high-level meeting with AI experts, Denmark’s first ever minister for digitalisation, Marie Bjerre, expressed no intention to update or develop new regulations concerning the safe use of artificial intelligence in Denmark. 

“I have no plans to introduce new legislation for artificial intelligence. The regulations already in place should be sufficient. They only need to be further elaborated,” she said. 

“It is essential to have regulations for the area, but it must be done in accordance with the EU’s upcoming AI regulations in the EU, which are expected by 2024. We want to help companies in Denmark with enhanced data security, but for now they are responsible for managing their own data security.”

ChatGPT incident a game-changer
The recent accidental data leak at Samsung Electronics Co to ChatGPT alerted companies across the world to the perils of using generative AI tools on company-owned devices. 

The South Korean tech giant has now banned their use and is developing its own internal artificial intelligence tools. 

The Engineering Association in Denmark (IDA), a consortium of over 80,000 engineers and technologists, has raised concerns of the possibility of similar leaks happening in Denmark. 

“AI is not your friend”
Talking to CPH POST, the IDA senior advisor Grit Munk voiced concerns about how long it might take for legislation to be effective in Denmark.

“Since the implementation of the AI Act in the EU has been delayed, we don’t expect it to be implemented in Denmark before 2025 or 2026. Meanwhile, the current laws should be updated for advanced AI and made tougher – not just for companies but also for children in Denmark,” she reasoned.

“Especially vulnerable kids who need a friend to talk to. Conversational chatbots can tell them it’s their new friend, when in fact AI is not your friend.”

Companies can take action
In the meantime, Munk advises, there are several courses of action Danish companies can take.

“Companies in Denmark can refer to the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act to make their security stronger,” she said.

“While [governmental] surveys should find out if companies in Denmark are properly following the current regulations on AI.”


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”