A recap of the AI Basic Law passed by the Diet on December 16, 2024, and what's ahead.
December 16, 2024...
The AI Basic Law passed the National Assembly.
Korea became the second country in the world to pass the AI Basic Law after the EU.
: The AI Basic Act passed the National Assembly (Source: Daum News)
: The AI Basic Act was passed almost unanimously, with only one vote against and one abstention. (Source: Daum News)
Then,
let's take a look at what the AI Basic Act actually consists of.
Structure of the AI Basic Law Bill
- Chapter 1: General Principles
- Chapter 2: Promotion System for the Healthy Development of AI and the Creation of a Trust Foundation
- Chapter 3: AI Technology Development and Industry Fostering
- Chapter 4: Securing AI Ethics and Trustworthiness
- Chapter 5: Supplementary Rules
It is organized like this.
For more details, see...
Main contents
1. Promotion System for National AI Development and Trust Foundation
- The Minister of Science and ICT shall establish and implement an AI Basic Plan every 3 years
- Establishment of the legal basis for the operation of the National AI Committee
- Establishing the basis for the operation of the AI Safety Research Institute
2. Support for fostering the AI industry
- Support for R&D, standardization, establishment of data measures for learning, and introduction and utilization of AI
- Designate AI clusters, promote AI data center measures, and promote AI convergence
- Secure AI experts, provide special support for SMEs, and promote startups
3. Creating a safe and trustworthy foundation for high-impact AI and generative AI
- Define and regulate high-impact AI and generative AI
- Transparency obligations, safety obligations, and business responsibility regulations
- Establishing a basis for government support for AI safety and reliability testing and certification and AI impact assessment
4. Obligations of AI business operators
- Provide prior notice to users when providing products and services that use high-impact AI or generative AI
- Indicate that it is a result of generative AI
- Clearly notify or display when providing virtual results that are difficult to distinguish from the real thing
For reference, the bill will take effect from January 2026.
Then,
let's take a look at what will happen when the bill goes into effect.
Laying the groundwork for the AI industry
Establish a national support system
- Establish and implement an AI master plan every three years
- Establishment and operation of the National AI Council under the president
- Expand government support for AI technology development, commercialization, research and development, etc.
Support for industry development
- Designation of AI clusters and promotion of AI data centers
- Support industrial development by promoting AI convergence
- Special support for small and medium-sized enterprises and revitalization of AI startups
Securing the safety and reliability of AI technology
Regulation of high-impact AI and generative AI
- Transparency obligations, safety obligations, and business responsibility regulations
- Government support for AI safety and reliability testing and certification and AI impact assessment
Establish ethical standards
- Specify ethical principles that do not harm human life, physical and mental health, etc.
Fostering AI experts
- Promote measures to foster AI-related experts and secure overseas experts
- Promote the development of AI talent through SMEs and startups
Resolving uncertainties for companies
- Set standards for the scope of AI learning data and responsibility for AI services
- Establish a legal basis for companies to pursue AI service strategies
The enforcement of the AI Basic Act is expected to lead to a more systematic development of the domestic AI industry and create a safe and reliable AI technology environment.
It is also expected to promote both innovation and ethical use of AI technology by balancing government support and regulation.
So, after the bill goes into effect
What should companies do after the law goes into effect?
Once the AI Act comes into effect, organizations will face the following key changes
Increased need for regulatory responses
- New regulatory compliance obligations for high-impact AI and generative AI
- Need to ensure AI systems are transparent, safe, and fulfill business responsibility
- Comply with generative AI output labeling and user notice obligations
Need to establish AI governance
- Need to establish an AI governance system to reduce legal risks and ensure compliance
- For companies entering global markets, a comprehensive governance system that takes into account offshore regulations such as the EU AI Act is required
Expanding government support and opportunities
- Expand government support for AI R&D, data for training, AI data centers and clusters, etc.
- Increase government support for AI technology development and commercialization
- Provide special support for SMEs and startups
Need for workforce training and retraining
- Companies need to make efforts to secure AI experts
- Employees need to be trained on AI literacy and retrained on the job
Responding to changes in industry structure
- Seeking to automate tasks and improve efficiency due to AI adoption
- Increased need to focus human resources on creative and high-value-added tasks
- Developing AI convergence services and expanding AI utilization
To respond to these changes, organizations are continuously monitoring AI-related laws and regulations, establishing an AI governance system, and
establish AI governance systems, and take advantage of government support policies while investing in workforce training and retraining.
But not from a corporate perspective,
let's take a look at what will change from an individual's perspective and how it affects their privacy.
Empowering privacy self-determination
- AI technology will allow individuals to better manage and control their information.
- By storing and managing their information from an individual's perspective, they will be able to react quickly in the event of a data breach.
Introduce an AI-based personal information management system
- AI systems will be able to manage all the information and records of services used by individuals.
- By combining data from multiple services, personalized analysis and prediction will become possible.
Enabling personal information valuation and trading
- Research will be conducted on the information value of different types of personal information, and standards will be established for valuation when trading personal data.
- A smart platform for personal information trading will be created to facilitate trading.
Introduction of a principle-centered regulatory system
- Rather than applying one-size-fits-all regulations, we will establish basic principles and encourage companies and researchers to proactively control the risk of privacy violations.
- This will create an environment that protects privacy without hindering the benefits of AI.
Establish public data processing standards
- Standards for the handling of publicly available personal data used in AI development will be set to reduce privacy concerns while promoting AI advancements.
These changes will further strengthen individual privacy,
while promoting the development and innovation of AI technology.
In this article, we've covered the AI Basic Law from a corporate perspective and an individual perspective.
We hope you will continue to be interested in AI
We will continue to pay attention to AI and watch the implementation of the basic plan every three years after the law goes into effect.