OECD Members Issue Statement on AI-Made Fake News; Securing Strategic Resources Also Addressed

By Hironari Akiyama and Takeru Tsuzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

14:36 JST, May 4, 2024

The Ministerial Council Meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded Friday by adopting a ministerial statement that includes a call for addressing fake and misleading information spread by artificial intelligence. The statement also expressed serious concerns about economic coercion, such as restricting trade to pressure other countries, with China in mind.

The Ministerial Council Meeting was attended by around 70 countries and regions, mainly the 38 OECD member countries, including Japan, the United States and European countries. Japan served as the chair country of the meeting for the first time in 10 years.

The ministerial statement welcomed policy measures against fake and misleading information. At the same time, the OECD revised its international guidelines on AI, the AI Principles, to include a new requirement for AI developers to address fake and misleading information, with a focus on generative AI, which is rapidly advancing in technological innovation and proliferation.

The statement also included strengthening cooperation in the field of economic security. It stated that the countries would work together to secure sustainable and reliable sources of strategic materials, including critical minerals, and confirmed that they would jointly address policies and practices that distort fair competition in the market, in addition to economic coercion.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference after the closing of the meeting, “We want to establish an environment in which people around the world can use safe, secure, and reliable AI, and strongly promote its use.”