EU bans the bots: Commission bars ‘AI agents’ from joining online meetings

BRUSSELS — Were you thinking of sending your artificial intelligence helper to an online meeting with the European Commission?

Think again.

The European Union's executive institution has a new ground rule that bars virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence from participating in its meetings. It imposed the rule for the first time on a call with representatives from a network of digital policy support offices across Europe earlier this month.

"No AI Agents are allowed," said a slide on e-meeting etiquette at the start of the presentation.

The Commission acknowledged it had imposed the ground rule for the first time last week, declining to give more details on the policy and reasons why it took the decision.

It's a weird twist to a recent development in artificial intelligence technology: the rise of said "AI agents."

AI's most popularized application so far seems to be chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, which can generate text or information or perform one single task when asked by a human. But AI agents push that boundary: They are assistants that can tackle several tasks autonomously and interact in a virtual environment. They act on users' behalf to conduct a series of tasks helping people in their jobs or daily life.

One of those tasks is joining an online meeting, taking notes or even reciting certain information.

Quietly, Brussels has been gearing up for an era in which AI agents participate in daily life and business.

The technology was mentioned in a wider Commission package on virtual worlds published March 31. "AI agents are software applications designed to perceive and interact with the virtual environment," the text read. Agents can "operate autonomously," but their work is set by "specific predefined rules."

Leading AI companies have all been experimenting with their own AI agent applications. In January, OpenAI launched Operator, a research version of an AI agent that can carry out several tasks in a separate web browser. Microsoft has also been rolling out the possibility of creating agents in its AI "companion" Copilot. French AI company Mistral also offers a platform to build agents.

So far, the technology isn't covered by any specific legislation, but the AI models that power the agents will have to abide by the EU's binding AI Act.

The technology could also come into focus when the Commission explores specific legislation on algorithmic management, the idea that employees are being managed by algorithms, later this mandate.