Tokyo, 30 Apr. The G7 ministers responsible for digitization and technology agreed today to promote a “responsible” use of artificial intelligence (AI) given the advance of these systems and their potential use to undermine democracy and violate people’s privacy.
“As generative AI technologies are becoming more prominent in all countries and sectors, we recognize the need to take stock of the near-term opportunities and challenges of them and continue to promote security and confidence in them,” the ministers of the Group of Seven most developed countries (G7) said in a joint statement after a two-day meeting in Japan.
The declaration cites five key principles to regulate the use of AI and other emerging technologies: rule of law, legal guarantees, democracy and respect for human rights, and seizing opportunities to promote innovation.
During the meeting held in Takasaki, some 107 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, the ministers also decided to endorse a plan to “create open and conducive environments for responsible innovation through AI.”
The plan urges the different countries to have an active participation in the development of international standards on the regulation of AI and promote dialogue on issues such as risk assessment.
The heads of Digitization and Technology of the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) and the European Union (EU) also pledged to promote the construction of more secure network infrastructures for countries emerging or under development and the improvement of submarine cable connectivity.
In turn, they approved plans to strengthen digital infrastructures in the face of authoritarian uses of them, which may involve, for example, the closure or restrictions on Internet access.
Also the direct violation of human rights through the use of digital tools, such as the production and distribution of false or manipulated news and other disinformation activities used, for example, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We resolve to cooperate to make visible and address the tactics of digital authoritarianism,” the statement said, adding that the G7 remains committed to protecting its “democratic institutions and values from foreign threats.”
In addition to Russia, the message is directed at countries like China, where digital surveillance and other high-tech tools are believed to be used to suppress free expression and violate other fundamental rights and freedoms.
Also present at the meeting were the ministers of Ukraine and also of India and Indonesia, which are hosting this year respectively the meetings of the G20 (a group made up of the countries with the most developed and emerging economies) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (ASEAN). EFE
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