G7 World Leaders to Sign “Hiroshima AI Process” for AI Governance

The 49^th G7 summit concluded on May 21. G7 is a political forum made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. The summit held in Hiroshima, Japan acknowledged the need for governance of generative AI and other technologies and agreed to discuss the tech as part of what is being dubbed the Hiroshima AI process. The report is expected by the end of the year.

There was a call for global cooperation to regulate generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney as well as a recognition of “immersive technologies” such as metaverses. The emphasis was on the need for careful governance of such technologies in order to prevent their misuse.

Touching upon concerns related to fairness, accountability, transparency, safety, privacy, and human rights—The summit highlighted the need to step in today to fix the troubles of tomorrow.

This is a significant effort and the policies the G7 makes can be crucial in determining a new world order. The G7 is a powerful group and policymaking during these summits often has a deep impact on how the world works.

There’s a good suspicion that the G7’s regulations will mainly focus on regulating corporate AI tools or how AI tools affect business in these countries.

G7’s report will be published by the end of 2023 and will give pointers on governing the digital economy. Each member country has been directed to establish a working group for this.

It’s important to note that given the breakneck speed at which AI technology is growing, 7 months might be too long to take steps to prevent the misuse of generative AI.

But at the same time, it’s safe to assume that member nations will more likely come up with their own regulations for AI or adopt the EU’s regulations before a comprehensive G7 policy comes into force. There’s no rule keeping G7 member nations from making their own policies on generative AI and it was hinted that the individual approach will differ even in the cooperative report.