Tech bill welcomed: call for global AI rules
The only effective way to regulate artificial intelligence is through an international agreement, but the window where it is possible is closing, experts say.
A GROUP of tech experts have welcomed the Australian government’s proposed digital duty of care legislation but warn the window to regulate artificial intelligence around the globe is quickly closing.
The panel, run by the Australian Human Rights Institute, discussed the growing challenges posed by artificial intelligence in terms of law, politics and rights.
Scientia Professor of AI at the University of NSW, Toby Walsh, referenced a case from California where a 16-year-old’s parents sued OpenAI’s ChatGPT, alleging it directly contributed to their son’s suicide.
He said the case showed the urgent need to regulate such technology.
“If a human (were) to do that, they would face prosecution,” Professor Walsh told the sold-out audience at the Art Gallery of NSW.
“I can’t think of any other trillion-dollar industry where people’s lives are not safe, where we don’t have strong government regulation.”
The federal government unveiled its digital duty of care reforms to enforce minimum standards on social media platforms and let users choose what they see on their feeds.
Fines of $100 million for non-compliant tech companies and taller guardrails against harmful and illegal content also feature in the sweeping changes, which the government proposed on Tuesday.
Unlike the under-16s social media ban, AI companies would be captured under this new raft of legislation, Australian Communications and Media Authority AI head Samantha Yorke said.
But Ms Yorke said an international regulation agreement was the only truly effective way to regulate AI.
“It’s going to take a hell of a lot of diplomacy to get everyone on board,” she said.
ABC National Technology Reporter Ange Lavoipierre said while it was still possible for guardrails to be put in place, that window of time was closing.
“We’ve got this window of time where we’re still the ones building it, and AI is not just solely building itself,” they said.
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