Malaysia to Lay Down Guidelines for AI Governance

Malaysia's Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) is establishing an ethics and governance code for artificial intelligence (AI) in conjunction with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, representatives from government agencies, higher education institutions, and industry participants. Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, stated on Facebook on Tuesday (October 10) that the code of ethics and governance would serve as the foundation for AI regulation in the country and would be ready by next year.

He said the government was also considering the necessity of a legal framework and the AI Act.

"This week in the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House of Parliament) session, there was a question raised on the monitoring of the use of AI technology, which is a complex technology, and the control and monitoring process involves various aspects such as technical, legal, ethical, policy and standards.

"The National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap 2021-2025 contains the Seven Principles of Responsible AI, which is a guideline for the development of trusted and responsible AI that can further protect the rights and privacy of individuals," the White House stated.

According to Mr Chang, the Malaysian Standards Department (JSM) has also formed a National Mirror Committee to draft national AI standards. He claimed that the committee comprised officials from the ministry, agencies, academia, and industry participants and was chaired by MIMOS, MOSTI's applied research and development unit.