IGF 2022 Day 0 Event #27 Regulatory challenges of addressing advanced technologies (AI and metaverse)

Time
Monday, 28th November, 2022 (14:20 UTC) - Monday, 28th November, 2022 (15:20 UTC)
Room
CR5

Vadim Pak and Rodica Ciochina – Council of Europe – International Organisation – Western Europe

Speakers

Keynote speaker: Jan Kleijssen joined the Council of Europe in 1983 as a Lawyer with the European Commission of Human Rights. Subsequently he served in the Parliamentary Assembly and as Director of the Secretary General's Private Office. He is currently Director of Information Society - Action against Crime. His Directorate carries out standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation activities on Freedom of expression, Data protection, Artificial Intelligence, Internet governance, Cybercrime, Terrorism, Criminal law, Fighting corruption and money laundering. Jan has been Council of Europe Internet Governance Coordinator since 2018.

Moderator: Thomas Schneider is Ambassador and Director of International Affairs at the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) in the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). He is an expert in Internet governance and in the governance of the information society, in particular media/new media regulation, human rights and consumer protection. Formerly Chair of the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society of the Council of Europe, Thomas currently chairs its Committee on Artificial Intelligence

 

Information on panelists :

  • Professor Susumu Hirano is Dean and Professor of the Faculty of Global Informatics in the Chuo University (Tokyo, Japan). Doctor (Pol’ Stud.) 2007, Chuo University (Tokyo, Japan); LL.M. 1990, Cornell University (Ithaca, New York);  and LL.B. 1984, Chuo University (Tokyo, Japan).  Admitted New York State Bar in and after Apr. 1991.  He has been professor of law (tenured) since 2004 at Chuo University.  He was also the founder of the Faculty of Global Informatics and has been Dean thereof since its foundation in Apr. 2019.  Before that he had been Dean, Graduate School of Policy Studies since 2013 till 2019.  Before he became the tenured professor at Chuo University, he had been General Counsel, Legal Department, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan).  He wrote, inter alia, Robot Law (Kōbundō, 2d ed. 2019)(in Japanese);  American Contracts (Chuo Univ. Press, 2009)(in Japanese);  American Torts (Chuo Univ. Press, 2006)(in Japanese);  and Electronic Commerce and Cyber Law (NTT Press, 1999)(in Japanese).  He has been active in the field of ELSI of AI including, but not limited to:  a member of AIGO (AI expert Group at Oecd)(Paris, France);  a member of Council for Social Principles of Human-centric AI, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan;  and Vice-Chairperson,  Conference toward AI Network Society, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Government of Japan (MIC).
  • Golestan (Sally) Radwan is an international AI expert and PhD candidate at the Royal Holloway University of London. For the past three years, she served as AI Advisor to the Minister of ICT of Egypt, where she led the team in charge of developing and implementing Egypt’s national AI strategy. Radwan served as vice-chair of the UNESCO ad-hoc expert group tasked with drafting the first international recommendation on the ethics of AI. She is also part of the OECD expert network ONE.AI, GPAI’s Responsible AI group, and chairs two AI working groups within the African Union and the League of Arab States. Prior to her appointment at MCIT, Radwan held several executive positions in the technology industry over 17 years, working in Germany, Austria, the UK and the US. Radwan earned a BSc in Computer Engineering from Cairo University and an MBA from London Business School, as well as an MSc in Clinical Engineering and Healthcare Technology Management from City University of London. She is currently finalizing her PhD thesis, focusing on AI explainability and its ethical considerations in clinical genomics.
  • Gregor Strojin is a bar qualified lawyer (Ljubljana) with an LL.M. In International and Comparative Law and a specialization in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law (Chicago Kent), and extensive experience in the crossroads of technology, information, human rights and law, both from theoretical, practical and policy perspectives. Gregor has contributed to many acclaimed projects improving the effectiveness, quality and access to justice, primarily working with the Supreme Court of Slovenia since 2002. Currently senior advisor to the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, Gregor also served as the State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice of Slovenia, was a member of the national Statistical Council, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence at the Council of Europe (CAHAI), is a member of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and its CYBERJUST working group and collaborates with a number of organisations on technology and information related policy issues. He is currently Head of the Slovenian Delegation and vice-Chair of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence of the Council of Europe.
  • Marisa Jiménez Martín joined Facebook  in February 2018 as Director of Public policy and Deputy Head of EU Affairs. She is based in Brussels, Belgium. Spanish lawyer by the University of Zaragoza, Marisa Jiménez is specialized inEU law by the Europa Institut of Saarbruecken, Germany. Marisa has over 20 years of public policy experience; she worked for the EU Commission at the beginning of her career and held various positions at Time Warner and Deutsche Post World Net Brussels Corporate public policy offices, dealing with a variety of public policy matters focusing on Privacy and Data Protection, Internet and RFID policy related issues. Before joining Meta, Marisa led Google’s privacy public policy strategy both in Brussels and Mountain View in California.  She currently focuses on content regulation on social networks and emerging technologies.
Onsite Moderator

Ambassador Thomas Schneider, Chair of the CAI

Online Moderator

Vadim Pak, Council of Europe

Rapporteur

tbc

SDGs

4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Targets: New and emerging technologies, such as AI and Metaverse, clearly have the potential to enable humanity to leap forward in terms of science, technologies and business. It can also help societies to organise themselves more efficiently and provide better service to their citizens. Given the scale of societal changes that such technologies result in, a reflection is necessary on the nature and the extent of an appropriate framework to ensure transparency and accountability regarding the operation of these technologies.

Format

Open forum

Language
English
Description

The principles behind AI and the realisation of its potential as technology have been known and discussed for a considerable time, but it is the relatively recent availability of “big data” which has allowed for AI to take centre stage in discussions on how we could and should interact with and use this form of very advanced technology.

AI is a very promising technology that can enable humanity to make great strides forward in terms of science and business, or help societies to organise themselves more efficiently and provide better service to their citizens. Yet at the same time, this technology can take humanity to a very dystopic place – a truly “Big Brother” society where human rights and fundamental freedoms are trampled underfoot; where democratic processes are ruthlessly manipulated; where the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of algorithm.

We need to ensure that AI remains a force for good. That AI is always designed, developed, and applied in a way which respects human dignity – in short which is human, not machine, centred. How should a legally enforceable international regulation look like, particularly in relation to those aspects of AI which touch directly or indirectly on human rights, democracy and rule of law.

Such a suitably balanced legally binding framework, open to all like-minded States of the World must be elaborated with the help of multi-stakeholder engagement. In addition to the multi-stakeholder approach for a common framework, the rapid evolution of technology, including AI systems does require also a multidisciplinary methodology.

The Metaverse is one example of a new generation of media platforms supported by AI technology, which is currently undergoing rapid developments. At the end of the session, the representative of Meta will make a short presentation regarding the current plans of the company regarding Metaverse.

The session introduction will be presented in a hybrid mode. 

Key Takeaways (* deadline 2 hours after session)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs to be designed, developed and applied in a way that it is compatible with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. This requires a combination of agile, soft and hard domestic and international regulatory mechanisms (including self-regulation where appropriate), along with the tools to implement them.

Call to Action (* deadline 2 hours after session)

There is a need to strengthen the multistakeholder approach, in order to be truly inclusive and to develop effective policies that respond to the needs and diversity of citizens, build trust and meet the demands of the rapidly changing global digital environment.