OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot came into limelight late last year. (file)
Stockholm, Sweden:
The European Union and the United States said on Wednesday they hope to draft a voluntary code of conduct on artificial intelligence “within weeks”, with hopes that fellow democracies will sign up.
After talks with EU officials in Sweden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Western partners felt an “overwhelming urge” to act following the emergence of technology in which China has been a growing force.
Mr Blinken told reporters the voluntary code would be “open to all like-minded countries”.
“There is almost always a gap when new technologies emerge,” said Antony Blinken, “it takes time for governments and institutions to figure out how to legislate or regulate.”
European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said a draft would be prepared “within weeks”.
“We think it’s really important that citizens see that democracy can deliver,” she said.
He hoped “to do this in the widest possible circle – with our friends in Canada, in the UK, in Japan, in India, to get on board as much as possible.”
Sam Altman, whose firm OpenAI created the popular AI-powered ChatGPT bot, attended the Council on Trade and Technology talks between the European Union and the United States, held this year in the northern Swedish city of Luleå.
The forum was set up in 2021 to reduce trade friction following Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, but has since focused largely on artificial intelligence.
In a joint statement, the two sides called AI a “transformative technology with great promise for our people, offering opportunities to increase prosperity and equity.”
“But to seize the opportunities it presents, we must minimize its risks,” it said.
“The European Union and the United States reaffirm their commitment to a risk-based approach to AI to advance trustworthy and responsible AI technologies.”
It said experts from both sides would work on “cooperation on AI standards and tools for trusted AI and risk management”.
The European Union is moving forward on the world’s first rules on AI that will ban biometric surveillance and ensure human control, although the rules will not come into force until 2025 at the earliest.
China has also discussed rules but Western powers fear that Beijing, with its growing power in the region and willingness to export to fellow authoritarian countries, could set the global standard without Western unity.
The United States has made no serious efforts to regulate AI, despite growing calls by some in the tech industry.
Technology leaders, including Mr Altman, warned in a joint statement on Tuesday that AI without regulation put the world at risk.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority, along with other societal-level risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” he wrote.
ChatGPT hit the headlines late last year after it demonstrated its ability to generate essays, poems and conversations through minimal input.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)