OECD paper on initial policy considerations for Generative Artificial Intelligence

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On the 18th September 2023, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its paper on Initial policy considerations for Generative Artificial Intelligence.
The overriding message of the paper is that whilst Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers “transformative potential across multiple sectors such as education, healthcare and scientific research”, these technologies also “pose critical societal and policy challenges” that policy makers must confront: potential shifts in labour markets, copyright uncertainties, and risk associated with the perpetuation of societal biases and the potential for misuse in the creation of disinformation and manipulated content. We summarise the paper’s findings below.
Policy issues raised by Generative AI
The paper highlights the areas that the OECD considers policy makers should address and/or consider. To summarise:
Risk mitigation measures
Considering the above challenges, the paper highlights that future risks of AI could demand “solutions on a larger, more systemic scale.” These could include regulation, ethics frameworks, technical AI standardisation, audits, model release, and access strategies, among others. At the same time the paper recognises that, “governments have been quick to recognise the transformative nature of generative AI and are taking action to keep pace with change.” For example, in May 2023, the Group of Seven (G7) countries committed to advance international discussions of AI governance in pursuit of inclusive and trustworthy AI and established the Hiroshima AI Process in collaboration with the OECD under the Japanese G7 Presidency to help improve governance of generative AI.
Conclusion
The paper concludes that generative artificial intelligence creates new content in response to prompts, offering “transformative potential across multiple sectors,” however, these technologies also pose “critical societal and policy challenges that policy makers must confront.”
The OECD is committed to helping governments keep up with the rapid change in generative AI and concludes “the future trajectories of generative AI are difficult to predict, but governments must explore them to have a hand in shaping them.”
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Please see our articles ‘Navigating the EU AI Act: flowchart', ‘The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Law, Regulation and Policy Glossary’ and ‘AI regulation in the UK: Government White Paper published’.
If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, David Varney, Martin Cook or any other member in our Technology team.
Written by Liz Smith and Nicole Simpson