Everything You Need To Know About The Circular Of The Minister Of Communication And Informatics On Artificial Intelligence Ethics

Illustration of artificial intelligence (photo: Freepik)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology plans to release a Circular Letter from the Minister of Communication and Information regarding Artificial Intelligence Ethics in early December.

In the Media Gathering Kominfo event which was held recently, Deputy Minister of Communication and Information, Nezar Patria, said that this circular was the first step for Kominfo, which was in the form of an appeal from the government for business actors in regulating the development and use of AI in the country.

Before it is officially released, here are some things you need to know about the Circular of the Minister of Communication and Information on Artificial Intelligence Ethics.

At the same time, Nezar also emphasized that this SE is actually more ethical reference, so it does not regulate any legal entanglement.

However, if there is a violation, it will be processed using the applicable law in Indonesia, it can be through the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE), the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP), and the Government Regulation on the Implementation of Electronic Systems and Transactions (PP PSTE).

"This SE is actually more of an ethical reference. But if this AI product goes into the public realm, it goes to, for example, social media and it brings some kind of information chaos or it also has the potential to violate the law and so on, so it enters the realm of law. Later there will be a legal process that will take place there," said Nezar.

Strengthening Nezar's statement, Director of Information Application Governance Aries Kusdaryono said, "Therein the circular letter is not given (sanctions). But related to that they are included in the organizers of the electronic system in the private scope, so the reference must be to the ITE law or PP PSTE as a sanction, in which they are in that case, they must be held accountable."

Seeing the many countries that have begun to regulate the development and use of AI technology such as China, Europe, America and the UK, Nezar said that Indonesia would not follow any country's rules.

"Actually, we don't go anywhere. So the matter of the school is actually like Europe, it's more about the principle (AI), if America is more about the application, if it's Chinese, it's more about innovation, and also they are concerned about safety too," he said.

Thus, Kominfo itself tries to summarize the best rules of all existing approaches, and then adapt them to the norms and rules in force in Indonesia.

"Because that's an approach in terms of value, because AI will also live in the context of locality later," added Nezar.

On Monday, November 27, Kominfo also held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with 43 stakeholders on SE Etika AI. Based on the results of the discussion, here are the preliminary results of the contents of the Circular Letter of the Minister of Communication and Information on Artificial Intelligence Ethics that have been collected from existing inputs.

The contents of this provisional Circular will at least appeal to business actors to pay attention to the ethical value of artificial intelligence which includes:

However, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics will still collect input from the FGD yesterday for finalization. Once ready, Kominfo will release it, which is possible to release in early December 2023.