Digital ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations have agreed on Sunday to adopt “risk-based” regulations on artificial intelligence (AI), in a move that sets a landmark for how major countries govern AI amidst privacy concerns and security risks.
The G7 ministers said that such regulations should “preserve an open and enabling environment” for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values.
While the ministers recognised that “policy instruments to achieve the common vision and goal of trustworthy AI may vary across G7 members,” they agreed that the regulations should be based on a shared commitment to the trustworthy development of AI.
Italy, a G7 member, had taken the ChatGPT offline last month to investigate its potential breach of personal data rules, but lifted the ban last Friday. The move has inspired fellow European privacy regulators to launch probes.
EU lawmakers have reached a preliminary agreement on a new draft of its upcoming AI Act, including copyright protection measures for generative AI, following a call for world leaders to convene a summit to control such technology.
Japan, this year’s chair of the G7, has taken an accommodative approach on AI developers, pledging support for public and industrial adoption of AI. Japan hopes to get the G7 “to agree on agile or flexible governance, rather than preemptive, catch-all regulation” over AI technology.
While France’s Digital Transition Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, commented that pausing AI development is not the right response, he added that innovation should keep developing within certain guardrails that democracies have to set.
The G7 meeting also recognised the security risks associated with AI, with Japan’s digital minister Taro Kono highlighting that “generative AI…produces fake news and disruptive solutions to society if the data it’s based on is fake.”
The G7 countries also plan to convene future discussions on generative AI to address governance, safeguard intellectual property rights including copyright, promote transparency, and address disinformation, including information manipulation by foreign forces.