Even as the "godfathers" of generative AI (Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun) disagree about the potential threat to humanity, policymakers, researchers and leading tech executives are calling for government regulation and corporate recognition of guardrails to mitigate the negative aspects of AI. While AI is sure to provide many benefits the potential for risks and harms are also the focus of current debate. Social justice, trustworthiness and freedom from bias are some of the values that can be compromised by the emergent capabilities of AI. It is incumbent on all members of society to engage in the debate over the purpose and scope of the forthcoming regulations. China has enacted legislation and the EU is likely to do so in the near future, however their respective approaches to regulation are radically different. Japan and the U.S. also will likely soon follow with regulations and the public statements to date suggest they are attempting to strike a balance between avoiding harm and promoting innovation.
Companies doing business globally need to consider:
- What policy alternatives are being discussed?
- What is the impact of the different regulatory models on businesses?
- Who should regulate and what should they focus on?
- What technical solutions are available to manage the risks?
- What companies need to do in connection with consumer protection, data privacy and cybersecurity
- How intellectual property can be protected?
We intend to explore these and related issues on a regular basis as an ongoing dialogue as an Eye on AI.
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This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, comprehensive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be regarded as legal advice.
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