The regulatory aspects of the emerging AI industry all around the world — part 1 | LEXcellence

With the emergence of AI, most industries will be touched by the technological revolution in making, as AI is expected to boost the productivity of numerous sectors by at least 4% by 2030, resulting in significant GDP gains for countries, which will best adapt to the new AI-powered era of our global history. Global industry giants, such as China, the USA, the EU, and Switzerland have already started to tackle the regulative aspects of Artificial Intelligence to boost innovation and address public concerns regarding data privacy and unethical use of the technology. Since the AI industry is expanding at the speed of light, it comes as no surprise that the interest in the technology is enormous, and many countries want to design their future with AI’s help. What kind of legislative approach to Artificial Intelligence do countries such as Singapore, Australia, the UK, Canada, Russia, The United Arab Emirates take? Let us explore the regulatory landscape of AI all around the world to better understand the outline of our tech-powered future!

1. Singapore

Singapore’s approach to AI centers around the idea of a trusted ecosystem, in which, customers can feel that their interests are protected, and businesses are given space to innovate. In January 2020, The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) released the second edition of the Model AI governance Framework (Model Framework) to provide guidelines on the effective use of AI in the public sphere, which would encourage transparent communication and boost industries’ productivity. To help organizations assess their level of alignment with the published guidelines, PDPC developed Self Assessment Guide for Organisations (ISAGO), urging them to “clear roles and responsibilities”, “minimize the risk of harm to individuals and bias in data and model”, and “make AI policies known to users”.

2. Australia

The Australian government wants to implement an approach that would let the country smoothly enter the era of AI, giving businesses a green light, and at the same time, making sure that citizens’ concerns with the new technology are properly addressed to build trust and safely transition into a tech-powered era. By developing a voluntary AI Ethics Framework, which includes 8 AI Ethics Principles, such as human, social and environmental well-being, human-centered values, fairness, privacy protection, and security, reliability, and safety, transparency, and explainability, contestability, and accountability. Australia’s support for AI extends beyond the regulatory approval: the Cooperative Research Centres Program provided $25 million for AI projects.

3. The UK

The UK is yet to have specific regulations regarding AI, but it does not mean that their legal AI ecosystem remains truly unregulated. In fact, the use of the new technology falls under the scope of 4 different documents: The Equality Act 2010, The Humans Rights Act, Consumer Rights Act 2015, and Data Protection Legislation. Since The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination at the workplace, it works very well in the context of AI, because one of the main concerns related to the technology is the risk of bias. Given that AI is powered by data, it is also no surprise that Data Protection legislations are at the center of the AI debate. Similarly to Australia, the UK is likely to develop an AI framework, which encourages technological innovation, while ensuring fairness, safety, security and human oversight over the new technology.

4. Canada

Back in January 2020, Canada started public consultations regarding the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) to unlock the potential of AI in a way that would also protect citizens’ rights to privacy, and equal treatment. Proposals made by numerous experts advocate for responsible use of AI “for new purposes towards responsible AI innovation and for societal benefits” and in this case, privacy is recognized as a fundamental human right. According to guidelines, businesses should be held accountable for their use of AI, and ensure transparency in the way they process data. As Canada is one of the leading countries when it comes to AI innovation, the government is determined to keep the country at the top of the AI ratings without comprising citizens’ fundamental rights.

5. Russia

Russia’s interest in AI has been steadily growing in the past years, until finally, the country established a legal framework for the development and adoption of AI technologies, set to be in force from 1 July 2020 to 1 July 2025. Technologies, which fall under the scope of regulations, include “computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition, and synthesis, smart decision-making” and apply to Moscow-based businesses and legal entities of all sorts. The legislations are designed to regulate the processing of anonymized personal

data (APD), for example, forbidding transferring data to a non-participant of given business activity, or simply speaking, third-parties. The laws set the standards for future AI regulation in Russia, which seems to embrace AI with enthusiasm.

6. The United Arab Emirates

UAE welcomed AI innovation with open arms long before other countries, publishing its “UAE Strategy of Artificial Intelligence” back in 2017. The strategy focused on the potential use of AI in such sectors as health, space, renewable energy, transportation, traffic, education, and the environment. The UAE’s government adopted a new approach to AI in 2019 when they published the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which is designed to place UAE on the AI’s map. The country is invested in the development of AI since it actively supports and funds numerous AI projects, creating incubators for AI startups and laboratories for researchers to attract AI talents from all around the world.

As AI investments all around the world skyrocket, one by one, countries start to join the AI race to move closer towards an AI-powered future, which is designed to boost productivity and bring innovation to a whole new level. Nevertheless, every tech opportunity is followed by public concerns about the line between technological growth and ethics. To accelerate the growth of new technologies and building public trust in AI, the increasing number of countries around the world will begin to regulate the emerging AI industry in the upcoming months. Although the approach to AI legislation varies from country to country, we can safely say, that on a global scale, governments seem to welcome AI with open arms, ready to lead their nations into a tech-powered tomorrow.

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The regulatory aspects of the emerging AI industry all around the world — part 2