alt Hacker News> it's a voluntary code of conduct
So then it's something completely worthless in the globally competitive cutthroat business world, that even the companies who signed won't follow, they just signed it for virtue signaling.
If you want companies to actually follow a rule, you make it a law and you send their CEOs to jail when they break it.
"Voluntary codes of conduct" have less value in the business world than toilet paper. Zuck was just tired of this performative bullshit and said the quiet part out loud.
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It's a chance for the business to try out the rules, so they can have an informed opinion and make useful feedback when the EU turn it into an actual law. And also so they don't have to scramble to compile once they suddenly become biding.
But well, I wouldn't expect Meta to sign into it either.
No, it's a voluntary code of conduct so AI providers can start implementing changes before the conduct becomes a legal requirement, and so the code itself can be updated in the face of reality before legislators have to finalize anything. The EU does not have foresight into what reasonable laws should look like, they are nervous about unintended consequences, and they do not want to drive good-faith organizations away, they are trying to do this correctly.
This cynical take seems wise and world-weary but it is just plain ignorant, please read the link.