Regulators worldwide, including those in ASEAN countries, are implementing precautionary measures and drafting regulations to establish “guardrails” around the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member bloc, is drafting governance and ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence (AI) that limit and monitor the use of the booming technology, confirmed five officials with direct knowledge of the matter.
In February, Ministers from ASEAN agreed on the need to develop an “AI guide” for the region of over 600 million people, but details of the discussions among regional policymakers have not been previously reported.
However, one official said that the “parameters” could be announced at the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting early next year.
“The drafting is ongoing and it could be completed towards the end of the year before it is endorsed by ASEAN members”, another official told Reuters.
A spokesman for Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information said that as the Chair for the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting, the country hopes to collaborate with other members in the bloc “to develop an ‘ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics’ that will serve as a practical and implementable step to support the trusted deployment of responsible and innovative AI technologies in ASEAN.”
Moves to set up AI Guidelines from ASEAN come as the European Union (EU) and the US are expected to release a draft of a voluntary AI code of conduct within weeks. The code would take effect ahead of the EU’s trailblazing AI Act, which is still being worked upon.
In a research paper released in June, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority highlighted the potential risk of “hallucinations” caused by generative AI. These hallucinations refer to the production of misleading content that appears convincing despite lacking factual accuracy.
