Governing AI & Privacy in ASEAN - Building Trust in Today's Covid-19 Environment - Summary

Straits Interactive and DPEX Network presented this webinar on 9 November 2021, as artificial intelligence (AI) is being harnessed more and more by organisations to improve their competitive advantage in business.

As a data protection officer (DPO) or a professional involved in your organisation’s data protection management team, you might have considered the following questions:

• • How common are AI business applications in the region?
• • What are the latest developments in AI and related regulations?
• • What exactly are the privacy issues related to the use of AI?
• • What are the ethical issues regarding the responsible use of AI?

During the session, which focused on AI governance and ethical issues in the context of ASEAN and beyond, Kevin Shepherdson, CEO, Straits Interactive, moderated a panel discussion with the following speakers:

• • Chung Sang Hao, Deputy Director (Al Governance), Trusted Al and Data, IMDA
• • Teng Chuan Hiang, Founder & Managing Partner of InterAktiv, Chairman of ERAI (Ethical and Responsible Use of Al) under APARA
• • Dr David Bodoff, Senior Lecturer & Al expert, University of Haifa (Israel)
• • Lyn Boxall, Director of Lyn Boxall LLC, a Singapore law firm specialising in data protection/privacy

To watch the webinar in full, please sign up to be a DPEX Network community member, log in and visit the Resources > Videos section on www.dpexnetwork.org.

Questionable applications of AI, unbeknownst to data owners, is already happening

During the panel discussion, Dr Bodoff highlighted that the implementation of AI has muddied the waters and raised several red flags in terms of how AI can use data to predict human behaviours in unexpected ways. “We’re in these areas [that are not black and white] now,” he said. “This is not science fiction!” He also said that the strong profit motive of companies could cause them to overlook the importance of data ethics.

IMDA’s Chung highlighted the importance of good governance by AI developers, which includes bearing accountability, to foster trust in how AI is used on people and their personal data. “It’s not just about compliance, but also gaining a competitive advantage, developing good products.” He added that Singapore was one of the first countries in the world to have a Model AI Governance Framework.

Teng, who shared an AI Trust Framework during the session, said he believed that instilling greater awareness of how AI uses data, getting more people educated about frameworks and ethical boundaries, and setting up task forces and committees, could go a long way in ensuring trust in data- and AI-propelled technologies, products and services.

Data privacy legal specialist Boxall said that AI need not necessarily be considered “evil” or not, as the more salient issue is that people whose data is being used need to know what data is being capitalised on and how it is used. “People need to know. This could affect people’s futures and they don’t even know about it,” she said.

Use of AI can be “tricky” as it may be privacy-compliant yet breach ethics

Professor Bodoff added that there is a “great deal of overlap between AI ethics and ‘classic’ data ethics”, but that certain applications of AI could still “feel wrong” despite being data privacy-compliant. He also predicted that current data ethics standards would not be able to keep up with the evolution of AI.

“The horses are completely out of the barn. There are many horrible usages of AI, and the bad news is there may no longer be any privacy [as we know it]. But I am optimistic that between public education and companies wanting governance frameworks, that stakeholders should continue to strive for good governance. We have to keep building ‘new barns’.”

To learn more about data protection and get certified, please visit the Courses page on www.dpexnetwork.org. Courses are also available with Straits Interactive’s training partner, SMU Academy, including the Data Ethics and AI Governance Frameworks module as part of the Advance Certificate in Governance, Risk and Data Compliance.

Some of the questions asked during the question-and-answer session that followed the panel discussion included:

• • What are examples of good implementation of the Model AI Governance Framework in Southeast Asia?
• • Have you seen AI ethics being embedded into the software development life cycle?
• • Have you seen any good examples of a board of directors’ involvement in AI governance?
• • Are there some general privacy questions relevant to AI?

To watch the webinar in full, please sign up to be a DPEX Network community member, log in and visit the Resources > Videos section on www.dpexnetwork.org.