The government is drafting an act to govern artificial intelligence (AI) and expects to have it ready for the legislature in September, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a start-up forum, Cheng said that AI poses a serious challenge to the protection of personal information and that the draft basic law, expected to be ready in September, would address that issue as part of a general legal and ethical framework for the new technology.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said that the draft act would cover the legal definition of AI, privacy protections, data governance, risk controls and ethical principles related to AI.
Photo: CNA
It would also contain provisions on the promotion of an AI industry and AI-application compliance and legality, it said in a statement.
Governments in Germany, Japan and South Korea are already seeking to establish shared principles for AI regulation and the implementation of dedicated AI frameworks to streamline the certification process for AI-related industries.
The EU has also unveiled plans to impose extensive safety and transparency restrictions on AI, but Taiwan currently lacks a specific evaluation framework for assessing the technology, the NSTC said.
The council initiated the drafting of a basic AI law to address this gap, and has been drawing on insights from foreign legal systems, while consulting industry experts and academics throughout the process, it said.
Ministerial meetings have also been held through the Cabinet’s digital policy and legal system coordination platform, serving as forums for discussing provisions and determining which agencies should be responsible for the bill’s enforcement, it said.
Once proposed, the bill would be submitted to the legislature for approval. The Legislative Yuan is in recess and is to reconvene in September.
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