Artificial intelligence (AI) now permeates critical infrastructures and decisionmaking systems where failures produce social, economic, and democratic harm. This position paper challenges the entrenched belief that regulation and innovation are opposites. As evidenced by analogies from aviation, pharmaceuticals, and welfare systems and recent cases of synthetic misinformation, bias and unaccountable decision-making, the absence of well-designed regulation has already created immeasurable damage. Regulation, when thoughtful and adaptive, is not a brake on innovation—it is its foundation. The present position paper examines the EU AI Act as a model of risk-based, responsibility-driven regulation that addresses the Collingridge Dilemma: acting early enough to prevent harm, yet flexibly enough to sustain innovation. Its adaptive mechanisms—regulatory sandboxes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) support, real-world testing, fundamental rights impact assessment (FRIA)—demonstrate how regulation can accelerate responsibly, rather than delay, technological progress. The position paper summarises how governance tools transform perceived burdens into tangible advantages: legal certainty, consumer trust, and ethical competitiveness. Ultimately, the paper reframes progress: innovation and regulation advance together. By embedding transparency, impact assessments, accountability, and AI literacy into design and deployment, the EU framework defines what responsible innovation truly means—technological ambition disciplined by democratic values and fundamental rights.

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), pedestrian privacy is increasingly at risk. In research areas such as autonomous driving, computer vision, and surveillance, large datasets are often collected in public spaces, capturing pedestrians without consent or anonymization. These datasets are used to train systems that can identify, track, and analyze individuals, often without their knowledge. Although various technical methods and regional regulations have been proposed to address this issue, existing solutions are either insufficient to protect privacy or compromise data utility, thereby limiting their effectiveness for research. In this paper, we argue that more effort is needed to protect pedestrian privacy in the era of AI while maintaining data utility. We call on the AI and computer vision communities to take pedestrian privacy seriously and to rethink how pedestrian data are collected and anonymized. Collaboration with experts in law and ethics will also be essential for the responsible development of AI. Without stronger action, it will become increasingly difficult for individuals to protect their privacy, and public trust in AI may decline.

This position paper argues that real-time generative AI has the potential to become the next wave of addictive digital media, creating a new class of digital content akin to ``digital heroin'' with severe implications for mental health and youth development. By shortening the content-generation feedback loop to mere seconds, these advanced models will soon be able to hyper-personalize outputs on the fly. When paired with misaligned incentives (e.g., maximizing user engagement), this will fuel unprecedented compulsive consumption patterns with far-reaching consequences for mental health, cognitive development, and social stability. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, from clinical observations of social media addiction to neuroscientific studies of dopamine-driven feedback, we illustrate how real-time tailored content generation may erode user autonomy, foment emotional distress, and disproportionately endanger vulnerable groups, such as adolescents. Due to the rapid advancement of generative AI and its potential to induce severe addiction-like effects, we call for strong government oversight akin to existing controls on addictive substances, particularly for minors. We further urge the machine learning community to act proactively by establishing robust design guidelines, collaborating with public health experts, and supporting targeted policy measures to ensure responsible and ethical deployment, rather than paving the way for another wave of unregulated digital dependence.