New AI law wins government support

Principles set out system safety rules

- SUCHIT LEESA-NGUANSUK KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

The government is ready to support the current draft of the principles of the artificial intelligence (AI) law, aiming to ensure that all AI developers and AI service providers operate under the same rules, said Wisit Wisitsora-at, permanent secretary of the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry.

He added that the principles are not aimed at hampering the investment atmosphere.

The principles focus on defining the safety standards of AI systems, the management of data used for AI development and defining the risk levels of AI concerning personal data.

"We do not want this law to set up a barrier, but to woo Thais to jump into the AI arena, instead of being left behind the bandwagon," Mr Wisit said.

The law will strike a balance between promoting trustworthy innovations and data protection, Mr Wisit added.

He said some ministries had piloted Al adoption, which enabled them to shut down illegal websites at a rate of 3,000 per day, compared to a manual system which can shut down only 3,000 websites per week.

He added that Al is changing the way state agencies operate.