AI Governance in South East Asian Cities and Governments
By: Urban Ai
Tags: Singapore, Asia, Smart Cities, Data Governance, Southeast Asia

By Kris R. Villanueva-Libunao (SmartCT) and Laurence Liew (AI Singapore)

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword. You’ve most likely come across AI in the media, especially after these algorithms surpassed humans in sophisticated games such as chess, GO, and StarCraft. However, the history of AI can be traced back to the work of Alan Turing in the 1950s when he formulated the Turing test that determines whether or not an entity is capable of intelligent behavior. The term was first used in a research proposal presented at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference, which explained “artificial intelligence” as follows:

“An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves. … For the present purpose, the artificial intelligence problem is taken to be that of making a machine behave in ways that would be called intelligent if a human were so behaving.” (Source: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/dartmouth/dartmouth.html)

Defining AI is not simple as there is no universally accepted definition. But to put it simply, Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the ability of a computer system to replicate intelligent human behaviors. The most common kinds of AI based on type, function, and complexity can be further seen below.

AI Governance

AI technology can assist with many aspects of everyday life. Think of chatbots, self-driving cars, and voice recognition. AI and AI-enabled applications, services, and products are already pervasive today and will continue to grow in their usage.

Many countries and cities are also turning to Ai to help them deal with increasingly complex problems like traffic congestion, poverty, and climate change. However, despite the optimism, there are mounting concerns, from security, AI malfunctioning to lack of empathy and pervasive bias, which brought about the need for AI Governance.

There are many disciplines that AI governance needs to address, such as policy and regulation, ethics, and law. But first, what is governance? The Chartered Governance Institute of UK & Ireland defines corporate governance as “the system of rules, practices, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled.” In a nutshell, the same principles apply in the public sector in governing its investments, budgets, and contracts. AI governance is no different. Without going into the technical complexities, AI governance could be defined as the rules and practices that everyone should abide by in developing, using, and deploying AI, which encompasses the creation and exchanges of data. AI Governance involves everyone — from the government, businesses, developers, and users.

Responsible AI through AI Governance

We have seen many organizations, particularly SMEs wanting to develop and deploy AI applications, but without a good understanding of the risks involved — technical, business, and ethics.

However, it is crucial to understand that AI is nothing but technology or a statistical algorithm often leveraging large amounts of data. It is just mathematics. Whether AI is ethical or not, and hence subject to governance and regulation, should not be because it is AI.

Policymakers and businesses must understand that it is the policies and business use-case that must be subjected to governance and regulation. Not the technology behind it. The technology is neutral. It has no feelings. It has no understanding of ethics.

AI and the internet have, however, enabled the impact of unethical policies and business practices at scale in terms of reach and speed. While major technology companies like Google and Microsoft, for example, have already taken steps in this approach and issued their responsible AI principles, it is still important that governments provide some guidance to ensure fairness for citizen-consumers and other businesses.

We have observed 3 responses to the rise of AI and AI governance model by countries:

Do nothing Recommended framework and best practices, and industry-led “Trust Mark.” Regulation

Even in Regulation, like in the EU model, they take a tiered approach where only high-risk AI deployments are regulated, whereas low or medium risk do not necessarily require regulation and can be left to the Framework and Trust Mark approaches.

AI governance in South East Asia

Several non-profits, non-governmental groups such as Urban AI and OECD’s Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) have groups and committees of experts looking at AI governance issues and specific applications of AI to smart cities, SMEs adoption, etc.

At the regional level, similar to the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has already developed region-wide master plans and strategies to promote and develop the digital economy involving AI. Consequently, many ASEAN member states have either established or are continuing to develop national AI strategies and governance frameworks.

Below is a list of countries in the ASEAN region that have national strategies and roadmaps on artificial intelligence as part of AI governance:

. Brunei does not yet have a broad, nationwide policy on AI, but notable data and AI initiatives can be found in Wawasan 2035, Digital Government Strategy (2015–2020), and E-Government National Centre (EGNC);

. Cambodia does not have a national AI strategy or policy. Existing policies with a focus on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and emerging technologies like AI exist such as Cambodian ICT Masterplan 2014–2020 (ICTopia Cambodia) supported by Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Telecom- ICT Development Policy 2020, the Policy and Strategies on Information and Communication Technology in Cambodia in 2004 by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport (MoEYS), E-government Master Plan (2017–2022) and National ICT Policy proposed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2015;

. Indonesia launched a national AI strategy that will guide AI efforts between 2020 up to 2045, highlighting AI projects’ focus on education and research, health services, food security, mobility, smart cities, and public sector reform;

. In Laos, a country-level AI policy and strategy is absent. However, Lao PDR has put in place a National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to encourage organizations within society to apply advanced technologies, including AI;

. In March 2021, the Malaysian government launched the AI Roadmap (AIRmap), which uses the National AI Framework for Malaysia (NAIF), an expansion of the National Big Data Analytics Framework;

. Myanmar does not have an existing national policy with AI focus; however, the e-Governance Master Plan was developed under ADB’s Technical Assistance in 2015;

. In May 2021, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) unveiled the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Roadmap to guarantee that the Philippines benefits from the emerging AI technology, which is estimated to contribute $92 billion to the Philippine economy;

. Thailand has its National AI Ethics Guidelines, which anchors from Digital Thailand, a 20-year national strategy for digital transformation which includes AI adoption;

. In 2021, Vietnam published its National Strategy on R&D and Application of AI to promote AI research, development, and application in the country;

. Among all the ASEAN nations, it is worth noting that Singapore, with its AI Singapore (AISG), has the most advanced overarching national policy specifically designed to drive AI readiness and to regulate its deployment, as further discussed in the next section.

Singapore

In Singapore’s AI Governance Framework, the focus (at the moment) is on a set of recommended principles:

Using the above principles, Singapore also has various government agencies and programs to not only promote AI but also to look at AI ethics and governance issues.

In 2017, the Singapore government launched AI Singapore with US$100M to undertake bleeding-age research in AI and promote industry adoption. In 2020, additional funds were allocated to expand the adoption of AI by SMEs and set up specific research into AI ethics and governance.

In 2019, Singapore’s Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the AI Ethics and Governance framework at Model AI Governance Framework in Davos.

In November of 2019, Singapore announced the launch of its National AI Office (NAIO).

Logo of AI Singapore

What we have noticed at AI Singapore is that most countries’ initial national AI programs were focused on AI research, AI Governance, and funding of AI startups. Very little thought was focused on adoption by SMEs and/or understanding and consumption of AI by men in the street.

There needs to be a balance between growing the supply of AI talents and solutions and the consumption of AI. In particular, ethical deployments of AI products and services and intelligent consumption of AI by everyone.

To this effort, AI Singapore launched its AI For Everyone 3-hours workshop in early 2018. It aims to educate students, working professionals, everyday citizens on what AI is so that they understand the limits of AI, what AI can and cannot do, and understand the various ethical and governance issues in AI systems.

There continues to be a gap in getting tech-savvy organizations who are keen and able to buy and deploy AI solutions to understand the issues surrounding ethics and governance. We still get very enthusiastic requests for solutions such as facial recognition to detect emotions and/or sentiments, which often carries with it tremendous privacy concerns.

Therefore there are opportunities for governments, trade associations, and non-profits to continue the outreach to educate both AI producers and AI consumers.

AI Governance in Smart Cities

While national governments develop country-level policies for AI and digital transformation, the closest thing from AI Governance at the local or subnational level are the smart city strategies and policies.

(Image courtesy: Rizky Maharani/Wikimedia Commons).

The Smart City concept is the digital transformation in a community with the general goal of sustainability. The smart city initiatives in southeast Asian communities can be closely linked to the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, established in 2018. It currently has 26 member cities: Bandar Seri Begawan, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Makassar, Banyuwangi, DKI Jakarta, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, Yangon, Cebu City, Davao City, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok, Chonburi, Phuket, Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Many of our local governments are already implementing AI-based programs in their communities. Though some aspects of AI governance like data collection, security, and privacy are being addressed by local-level policies, as it stands, the current smart city approaches have weak to no clear policy for governing AI, especially ethics.

The Need for AI Governance in Smart Cities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest-growing fields of technological innovation. As with any new major advancement, it brings with it a range of benefits and risks. It is important to have AI Governance in place to protect both the public and the technological innovation itself.

AI Governance in southeast Asia is making great strides at the national level. However, there is still a lot of work left to do at the local level. Local governments are uniquely positioned to play a role in governing AI, not only because they are more nimble than the national governments but because local governments are directly responsible for the welfare of its community.

AI Governance at the local level is just as important as having a national strategy as the impact of AI at the local level directly affects the lives of its residents. Indeed, governing artificial intelligence at the local and national levels is equally important. However, as seen in Singapore, it is not the only thing that matters. People should also be educated about the issues surrounding artificial intelligence in order to make informed decisions.

In your opinion, how can the public be best educated and engaged about the issues surrounding artificial intelligence?

Kris R. Villanueva-Libuano has more than a decade of policy action research, urban planning, and strategic management consultancies. Currently, she is the Executive Director and Chief Sustainability Officer of SmartCT, improving the way smart cities and digital transformation are being developed in the Philippines and developing countries by evangelizing openness and people collaboration at the city level.

Laurence Liew is the Director of AI Industry Innovation at AI Singapore and drives the adoption of AI by the Singapore ecosystem through the 100 AI Experiences and Learning programs. Laurence graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with High Honors in Engineering and holds a Masters in Knowledge Engineering from NUS.