Takasaki: Digital and technology ministers from the Group of Seven major countries ended a two-day meeting Sunday with the adoption of a joint statement showing their intention to aim for “responsible” artificial intelligence through its use under appropriate regulations.

At the meeting held in the city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, the ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union also compiled a related action program, in light of various risks regarding rapidly developing AI technologies, such as interactive AI tool ChatGPT.

“We recognize that AI development is progressing rapidly and has the potential for significant impacts on society,” the joint statement said.

Issues such as privacy violation and copyright infringement have been raised concerning generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT.

The G-7 countries are poised to aim for spreading AI use by creating unified standards, including on risk assessment, while recognizing differences in AI rules and regulations among them.

The statement called for the principles of the rule of law, due process, democracy and respect for human rights while harnessing the opportunities of innovation for the utilization of AI and other new technologies.

The ministers endorsed the establishment of the Institutional Arrangement for Partnership for the promotion of Japanese-proposed “data free flow with trust,” or DFFT. They also agreed to tackle problems such as false information in order to promote the open and free internet.

A meeting among top antitrust officials is slated this autumn for discussions on measures over the digital market, where the oligopoly by information technology giants has become an issue.

JIJI Press