Japanese Premier Calls For 'Int'l Governance' To Achieve Safe, Trustworthy AI

Acknowledging that evolving high technology has the potential to be a "vital tool to further enrich" the world, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Thursday called for "international governance" to achieve "secure" artificial intelligence (AI).

"As AI is an innovative technology that affects humanity at large, it is important that many countries share a common understanding on its use and development," Kishida told an event by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the French capital Paris.

According to a transcript of his speech, Kishida said: "It is my belief that… AI will make great contributions toward finding solutions to various issues including healthcare and climate change, in a way that was unthinkable in the past."

"At the same time, one cannot shed light only on the bright side of generative AI. We must also confront the dark side of AI, such as the risk of disinformation," he warned.

In order to mitigate such AI-related risks, the Japanese prime minister noted there was "an urgent need to establish international governance to achieve safe, secure, and trustworthy AI."

Japan, Kishida recalled, has initiated the Hiroshima AI Process "which led to the development of the International Guiding Principles as well as the Code of Conduct for AI developers and contributed to reducing specific risks related to generative AI."

To build up specific technical solutions to reduce risks in the fight against the dark side of AI, Kishida said Japan will establish the Tokyo Center of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to "provide robust support to projects such as technology demonstrations by a diverse group of experts." -