《TAIPEI TIMES》NSTC proposes draft act to manage AI development

DISCUSSING DEEPFAKES: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology could assist the military in combatting cognitive warfare, a director at the institute said

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

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The National Science and Technology Council （NSTC） on Monday proposed a draft artificial intelligence （AI） basic act designed to manage the development of AI applications and the risks involved.

The draft act stipulates that the government should categorize AI applications based on the risks involved in using them and enhance the credibility of AI applications through standards, verification procedures and other accountability mechanisms.

It also sets out the conditions under which AI technology can be applied, as well as provisions for issues involving liability, remedies, indemnity and insurance.

AI applications would not be subject to the regulations during the research and development phase, the draft says.

The agency in charge of protecting personal data should help all government agencies avoid non-essential collection, handling and use of personal data during the research and development phase of AI applications, it says.

The government should prevent the use of AI applications that would lead to the loss of people’s lives, freedom or properties; disrupt social order; damage the environment; or result in conflicts of interest, discrimination, false advertising and misleading or fabricated information, the bill says.

Under the draft act, the Ministry of Digital Affairs should recommend tools and methods that government agencies can use to assess and verify the risks of using AI applications.

Each government agency would be responsible for managing its use of AI applications, including by asking foreign AI service operators to have an office in Taiwan, it says.

The ministry should also develop an AI risk management framework similar to the one developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which government agencies can use to build their own risk management mechanisms for AI applications, the draft says.

The government should also assist workers who have lost their jobs to AI in finding new jobs, it says.

The government would be authorized to offer subsidies, funding, tax incentives and other measures to facilitate the research and application of AI technology, as well as the construction of infrastructure, it says.

The draft act, which was stipulated following extensive discussions among industry leaders, university deans and government officials, is now open to input from the public until Sept. 13, the council said.

In other news, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday said that it has the research and development capability to assist the military in combating cognitive warfare, which has been intensified over the past few years due to deepfake technology.

Deepfake technology — a term that combines “deep learning” technology and “fake” — is a challenge and risk created from the extensive applications of AI technology, said Huang Yi-ching （黃益進）, director of the institute’s information and communications research division.

“Deepfake technology can be used to produce life-like pictures, audiovisual content and texts, which can be quickly disseminated over the Internet. It can also be used in cognitive warfare between hostile nations,” Huang told a news conference at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei.

In cognitive warfare, the target audience could believe that the falsified content is true, resulting in internal conflicts and low morale, he said.

When combined with phishing messages or e-mails, the technology can also be used to illegally obtain the personal information of specific individuals and classified information, he said.

Asked if the institute could use deepfake technology to help the military counter Chinese cognitive warfare against Taiwan, Huang said that it has the research and development capability to assist the military in this regard.

He did not elaborate.

Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang （孫立方） said that most disinformation appears during the Han Kuan military exercises, saying things such as the drills were designed to help senior military personnel to escape during a war or a major error occurred and led to casualties.

People can now better distinguish fake news from the truth through the collective efforts of government agencies, Sun said.

“We would control the narratives surrounding issues and intercept them before they go viral,” he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES