AI regulation: Japan is leaning toward a lenient approach
What's the story
Governments worldwide are discussing artificial intelligence (AI) and its repercussions. They aim to regulate the new technology before it's too late.
The pertinent question here is regarding the approach. Should rules governing AI be stringent or lenient?
Japan is leaning toward the latter. If that's the case, how would that affect the call for a global framework to regulate AI?
Context
Why does this story matter?
The past few months have seen AI growing from a novelty to the catalyst for the next technology revolution. There are still a lot of unknowns about AI, which makes lawmakers worldwide wary of its potential implications.
The push for regulation started from those concerns. The European Union is leading the efforts with its upcoming AI Act.
Japan
Japan's AI approach is expected to be closer to US's
The EU's proposed AI regulation is stringent in nature. Japan wants softer rules to govern the use of AI than the EU's AI Act, an official close to deliberations told Reuters.
Japan's aim is to come up with an approach that is closer to the US than the EU by the end of this year.
Too strict
Japan thinks EU's AI rules are a 'little too strict'
Prof. Yutaka Matsuo, the chair of Japan's AI strategy council, called the EU's proposed AI rules a "little too strict."
Earlier this month, the country declared that using datasets for training AI models does not violate copyright laws.
According to Matsuo, specifying copyrighted material used for deep learning is an "almost impossible" task. This goes against what the EU has proposed.
Importance
A softer approach could help Japan regain its technological edge
Japan believes a softer approach to AI would be more conducive to innovation and growth in the field. For a country that has lost its technological edge in recent years, AI is a chance to get back on track.
AI could also help the country deal with its labor shortage and stimulate the demand for advanced chips government-backed Rapidus plans to manufacture.
Issue
Japan's approach could hinder EU's efforts
However, Japan's softer approach could hinder the EU's efforts to make its AI Act a global benchmark. Disclosure of copyrighted material by AI companies is one of the main tenets of EU's regulation.
Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, is visiting Japan this week to promote the AI Act.
It needs to be seen how Japan responds to Breton's proposal.