Southeast Asian countries are reportedly drawing up a draft to safeguard the use of generative AI, following regulators around the world trying to minimize potential risks associated with the technology.
In February, ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on the need to develop a set of governance and ethics guidelines for the region of a combined 668 million people. Their aim is to try to balance the economic benefits of AI with its potential risks, serving as a step to support the trusted deployment of responsible and innovative AI technologies in ASEAN.
Reports state the so-called “ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics” could be completed by the year’s end or early next year, to be up for endorsement by its member countries of Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
It remains to be seen on what tone is to be set by the new ASEAN AI guideline, but in general, a tougher-than-expected stance is projected to hinder progress for developers of generative AI in the region. On the other hand, a soft tone could be ineffective in handling security risks including AI Package Hallucination technique that could exploit generative AI platforms. Also studies show the use of generative AI could lead to a significant increase in data center infrastructure and operating costs.
Moves by ASEAN come as the European Union approved a landmark law this month that requires generative AI systems to be put under review before their commercial release. EU’s AI Act is considered by pundits of having a tougher stance with its “risk-based approach” to justify a ban as well as by prohibiting all real-time biometric identification and surveillance systems from public settings.