Takasaki, Gunma Pref. –

With new artificial intelligence applications such as ChatGPT taking the world by storm, digital and technology ministers from Group of Seven nations on Sunday called for speeding up discussions on the responsible use and governance of the new tech.

The ministers also agreed to further promote smooth and trustworthy cross-border data flows — one of Japan’s key goals for the two-day G7 tech meeting — as more countries look to tighten regulations on the flow of data.

How to apply rules to the use of generative AI tools is becoming a pressing issue for governments around the world in the wake of the public debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT last November. Since then, the chatbot app has demonstrated its high capacity to handle a variety of tasks, including finding and summarizing information, drafting documents and checking programing code.

The technology is widely seen as a game changer but has also ignited concerns over the possibility it could be a job-killer, while also helping spread false or misleading information.

As more tech firms develop generative AI products, governance over the tech became one of the main topics at the G7 meeting, with nearly all the members voicing a need for more talks on the issue.

“We plan to convene future G7 discussions on generative AI, which could include topics such as governance, how to safeguard intellectual property rights including copyright, promote transparency, address disinformation ... and how to responsibly utilize these technologies, ” a joint statement released at the meeting’s conclusion said.

“We need to speed up discussions, share a recognition (about the need for responsibly using the technology) and send out a strong message on what direction we should be headed,” Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said during a news conference following the meeting.

Countries and regions are now contemplating ways to govern the use of the new technology.

In Italy, concerns over data privacy prompted authorities to temporarily ban the use of ChatGPT last month after the chatbot service was allegedly discovered to be illegally collecting data. The country lifted the temporary ban on Friday.

EU policymakers, meanwhile, have reportedly been rushing to update the draft for the AI Act to regulate the use of copyrighted materials. The EU is known for its strict stance on data and privacy protection.

In Japan, anxiety among the public may be growing, as the latest Kyodo News telephone poll conducted on Saturday shows that 69.4% of respondents called for stricter regulation on AI development.

While more countries are expected to introduce different measures and regulations to promote the better use of AI applications, the G7 ministers agreed that there needs to be a degree of standardization. They also shared the view that the AI technologies should be "human-centric" while opposing the use of AI that would "undermine democratic values."

One of the major achievements for Japan at the meeting was to get other G7 members on board to promote its Data Free Flow with Trust concept, which was originally proposed in 2019.

With data becoming an increasingly crucial element of the globally expanding digital economy, the tech ministers stressed the significance of DFFT.

“We have seen historic progress on DFFT, which is one of the major policy agendas of the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida,” digital minister Taro Kono said.

To further promote the DFFT concept, which up until now has been more of a slogan than an actual initiative, the ministers agreed to operationalize the plan by setting up an institutional framework with a secretariat.

Through this initiative, the G7 nations aim to launch projects that will diffuse the ideas of DFFT to wider areas. Japan is proposing to create a database of data regulations implemented by different countries that businesses can reference.

A number of countries and regions are taking different approaches to handling cross-border data flows, with some implementing strict regulations known as data localization.

Countries taking data localization measures generally mandate that companies store personal and sensitive data domestically. Motivations behind such policies may vary, such as better protection of residents’ privacy, enhancing national security and enabling the authorities to access certain data when necessary.

Data flow regulations came under the spotlight when China introduced a cybersecurity law in 2017 that requires network operators and other firms managing critical information infrastructure to store personal information and important data within that country, with the outflow of such data requiring a safety assessment.

According to a report by the OECD released last June, 92 measures related to data localization had been implemented in 39 countries as of 2021, with the majority of the increasingly tough regulations introduced in the previous five years.

Many firms are stressing the importance of DFFT, as higher hurdles for international data flows will only hamper their business operations.

The G7 consists of Britain, France, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan, plus the European Union. The tech meeting was also attended by representatives from Ukraine, Indonesia and India.