Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai DigitalEconomy and Society (DES) Ministry has drafted the country’s first artificialintelligence (AI) ethics guidelines.

The ministry worked with MicrosoftThailand and Mahidol University on the guidelines. Thailand is the firstcountry in Asia-Pacific where Microsoft contributed to crafting the guidelinesas an adviser.

According to Thai media, the firstprinciple indicates AI technology must cater to the country's competitivenessand sustainable development.

The technology also needs to complywith the law and international standards.
AI technology must be developed withaccountability and responsibility to ensure security and data protection.

Other tenets are the technology musttake into account equality and fairness, and efforts must be made to ensure AI technology is reliable.

The draft is not final and theministry wants to gather input from public forums and focus groups.

"The AI ethics guideline is partof raising competitiveness under the 20-year national strategy plan for2018-37, which was made by the national strategy committee," said DES MinisterBuddhipongse Punnakanta.

The guidelines will serve aspractices to be followed by researchers, developers and service providersengaging in tech development, he said.

AI is expected to be broadly used bytargeted industries under the Thailand 4.0 initiative, including for S-curveindustries.

These industries include next-generationautomation, intelligent electronics, medical tourism, advanced agriculture andbiotech, food processing, robotics, comprehensive healthcare, aviation,logistics, biofuel, biochemical and digital industries.

"AI will not only be used in themanufacturing sector, but also in normal daily life, including work andleisure," said Buddhipongse.

The guidelinesareneeded to prevent misuse of technology, he said, adding that the guidelines andpractice should be developed into regulation.

It is too early to say when theguidelines will come into force, he stated./.