Singapore launches AI governance and ethics initiatives

The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) in Singapore has announced three initiatives aimed at 'engaging key stakeholders including government, industry, consumers and academia to collaboratively shape IMDA's plans for the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. First, a multistakeholder Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data, to be appointed by the Minister for Communications and Information, will assist the government in developing ethical standards and reference governance frameworks for the development and deployment of AI. Second, to support the work of the Advisory Council, a discussion paper on AI and Data Governance Frameworks was put forward to encourage discussions around two key principles: (1) decisions made by or with the assistance of AI should be explainable, transparent and fair for consumers; (2) AI systems, robots and decisions should be human-centric. Third, a five-year Research Programme on the governance of AI and Data Use is to be set up at the Singapore Management University, to carry research on 'research on policy, legal, regulatory, governance, ethics and other issues relating to AI and data use'.