[Editorial] Is South Korea interested in artificial intelligence at the national level?
Haebom
Recently, the term of the 21st National Assembly ended and the 22nd National Assembly began. While watching the 21st National Assembly debate on a certain broadcasting station, I saw that they were talking about the artificial intelligence bill, so I was curious and looked up what the artificial intelligence bill was. There were as many as 12 cases. Of course, there is a problem that will naturally disappear as the term of the 21st National Assembly ends and must be dealt with anew in the 22nd National Assembly.
Artificial Intelligence Accountability and Regulation Legislation
2023-08-08
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2120353
Artificial Intelligence Liability Act
2023-02-28
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2118726
Bill on fostering the artificial intelligence industry and securing trust
2022-12-07
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2116986
Artificial Intelligence Education Promotion Act
2022-08-24
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2113509
Bill on Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence
2021-11-24
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2111573
Bill on Artificial Intelligence
2021-07-19
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2111261
Legislation on fostering artificial intelligence and creating a foundation for trust, etc.
2021-07-01
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2110148
Artificial Intelligence Education Promotion Act
2021-05-17
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2104772
Artificial intelligence technology basic bill
2020-10-29
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2104564
Special Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence Integrated Complexes
2020-10-19
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2103515
Bill on the Promotion of Artificial Intelligence Industry
2020-09-03
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
2101823
Legislation on artificial intelligence research and development, industry promotion, ethical responsibility, etc.
2020-07-13
Expiration of term of office
2024-05-29
Looking at these problems, first of all, there is the problem of 'term expiration repeal', in which many bills are automatically discarded when the proposer's term expires. In addition, bills pending in the relevant committees are not receiving sufficient review, resulting in 'delays in review.' This reduces the effectiveness of the bill and makes timely regulation and support difficult.
Another problem is that the political world has little interest and priority in artificial intelligence. Considering the social change and impact that artificial intelligence will bring, there is a lack of political will and support for related bills. This weakens the momentum needed to pass legislation and reduces the ability of the National Assembly to respond to the rapidly changing technological environment.
I will make the declaration about artificial intelligence. Who will do the practical work?
Improvement is also needed in terms of the bill's content. Most of the current bills consist of comprehensive and declarative contents, and lack specific implementation plans. Due to the complex and rapidly developing nature of technologies such as artificial intelligence, more detailed and flexible regulatory measures must be established. (Some bills divide artificial intelligence, super-thinking artificial intelligence, high-risk artificial intelligence, etc., but it felt like I was only understanding the concept in terms of what the standards were, so I felt like I wasn't sure what I wanted to do while reading it.)
Multifaceted efforts are needed to improve these problems. First, we must establish an institutional mechanism to streamline and expedite the bill review process within the National Assembly. Through this, delays in the review of pending bills will be resolved and the problem of expiration of term of office will also be alleviated.
We also need to raise political awareness of artificial intelligence and raise the priority of related bills. This can create a synergy effect when promoted in conjunction with the establishment of a government-wide national strategy for artificial intelligence. If the government and the National Assembly cooperate to proactively respond to the development of artificial intelligence technology and its social impact, we will be able to speed up the overhaul of laws and systems. It is good to set terms, but there seems to be a tendency to try to define terms first when the environment, ecosystem, and human resources to properly create them are not yet ready. I think the standard for defining that term is also Fituru Maturu.
It is also important to increase the specificity and effectiveness of the bill's contents. Considering the characteristics of artificial intelligence technology, more detailed and flexible regulatory measures must be developed. To achieve this, a process of collecting opinions from various stakeholders such as technical experts, industry, academia, and civil society, and reaching social consensus appears necessary. I think it should be done bipartisanly, not along party lines. They say that the first quarter of a legislative session is the hardest... please... I recently introduced a case from the United States.
In addition, active communication and cooperation between the proposer and related organizations are required. Continued attention and effort must be paid even after the bill is proposed, and after passage, an inter-ministerial collaboration system must be established for implementation. Through this, we will be able to increase the effectiveness of the bill and promote the healthy development of artificial intelligence technology. Actual organizations and ministries are also experiencing difficulties in setting up committee members and supervisors. This seems to be a problem caused by approaching โartificial intelligenceโ too conceptually to be due to the absence of experts. In fact, when we talk about it, we often see cases where people try to use artificial intelligence, spending high costs on problems that do not need to be solved with artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is seen as a key technology that will determine the future of our society. Resolving problems with related laws and finding ways to improve them can be said to be a national task. It is time for various entities, including the legislature, the executive branch, expert groups, and civil society, to add strength and pool their wisdom. I am confident that if we work together, Korea will be able to establish itself as a leading country in the era of artificial intelligence. (Of course, there needs to be some process to filter out strange groups in this process.)
I've covered this repeatedly, but our neighboring countries, the US, and the EU are all having deep discussions about artificial intelligence. In addition, I believe that such discussions should continue actively in society, as most countries are adopting protectionist trade rather than free trade due to recent oversupply, and furthermore, their own selfish attitude. Issues such as the First Lady's luxury bag and in-flight meals may be important, but from the perspective of the Republic of Korea, discussions and practical research support related to artificial intelligence are urgently needed.
