G-7 should adopt ‘risk-based’ AI regulations, ministers say
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The top tech officials from the G-7 met in Takasaki, a city about 100km north-west of Tokyo.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
TAKASAKI, Japan – The Group of Seven (G-7) advanced nations should adopt “risk-based” regulations on artificial intelligence (AI), their digital ministers agreed on Sunday, as European lawmakers hurry to introduce an AI Act to enforce rules on emerging tools such as ChatGPT.
But such regulation should also “preserve an open and enabling environment” for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values, G-7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Japan.
While the ministers recognised that “policy instruments to achieve the common vision and goal of trustworthy AI may vary across G-7 members”, the agreement sets a landmark for how major countries govern AI amid privacy concerns and security risks.
“The conclusions of this G-7 meeting show that we are definitely not alone in this,” European Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager told Reuters ahead of the agreement.
Governments have especially paid attention to the popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI that has become the fastest-growing app in history since its launch in November.
“We plan to convene future G-7 discussions on generative AI which could include topics such as governance, how to safeguard intellectual property rights including copyright, promote transparency and address disinformation,” including information manipulation by foreign forces, the ministerial statement said.
Italy, a G-7 member, took ChatGPT offline in March to investigate its potential breach of personal data rules. While Italy lifted the ban on Friday, the move has inspired fellow European privacy regulators to launch probes.
EU lawmakers on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement on a new draft of its upcoming AI Act,
Ms Vestager, the EU’s tech regulation chief, said the bloc “will have the political agreement this year” on the AI copyright legislation, such as labelling obligations for AI-generated images or music.
Meanwhile, Japan, the G-7 chair for 2023, has taken an accommodative approach on AI developers, pledging support for public and industrial adoption of AI.
The Japanese government hoped to get the G-7 “to agree on agile or flexible governance, rather than pre-emptive, catch-all regulation” over AI technology, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, ahead of the ministerial talks.
The top tech officials from the G-7 – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – as well as the EU met in Takasaki, a city about 100km north-west of Tokyo, following energy and foreign ministers’ meetings in April.
Japan will host the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima in late May, where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss AI rules with world leaders. REUTERS
