Japan Seeking G7 Agreement on AI Development Guidelines, Kishida Announces at Internet Governance Forum

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:38 JST, October 10, 2023

Japan is aiming to facilitate an agreement among the Group of Seven industrialized nations on international guidelines and codes of conduct for the developers of generative AI as early as this autumn, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday during his speech at the Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto.

Kishida also spoke about the effectiveness of technologies that can identify the originator of online information.

The U.N.-sponsored annual forum is being hosted by Japan this year from Sunday to Thursday. Government and company officials, as well as experts from around the world, have gathered to discuss wide-ranging issues related to the internet.

Kishida said during Monday’s speech that Japan, as this year’s G7 chair, is leading the Hiroshima AI Process, a framework to discuss ways to use and regulate generative AI. Regarding international guidelines and codes of conduct for developers of advanced AI systems, including generative AI, Kishida said, “We are formulating them ahead of a video meeting among the G7 leaders to be held as early as this autumn.”

Kishida cited “social disruption caused through elaborate fake visual content and disinformation” as a risk posed by generative AI. Apparently referring to Originator Profile, a digital technology used to indicate the originator of online information, Kishida said, “Promoting the development and use of technologies to verify and identify the originator of information can be effective in promoting the flow of reliable information.”

He also revealed that measures to boost the development of basic technology for AI and concrete measures to promote the use of AI among small and mid-sized companies and in the field of medicine will be included in the government’s economic measures to be drawn up in late October.

Prior to his speech, Kishida also spoke at the conference’s opening ceremony and stressed the importance of a “free and undivided internet.”

Countries such as China and Russia are censoring and blocking online communications. Amid these circumstances, Kishida said: “The internet is the foundation of a democratic society. A free and undivided internet is essential for human development.”