🚨 BREAKING: Taiwan enacted its basic law on AI, which includes, among other innovative provisions, detailed AI governance principles and LABOR RIGHTS for humans who lose their jobs due to AI. Other countries should take note:
According to the law's third article, the research and application of AI in Taiwan should adhere to the following principles (read them carefully):
1. Sustainability: It should consider mental health, social equity, and environmental sustainability, reducing potential health risks or digital disparities, and enabling the public to adapt to the changes brought about by AI.
2. Human Autonomy: It should support human autonomy, respect fundamental human rights and cultural values such as the right to personality, allow for human oversight, and implement a people-centered approach that respects the rule of law, human rights, and democratic values.
3. Privacy Protection and Data Governance: It should respect the privacy and autonomy of personal data, adopt the principle of data minimization, and avoid the risk of data leakage.
4. Security: Cybersecurity measures should be established throughout the research and application of AI to prevent security threats and attacks, ensuring the robustness and security of the system.
5. Transparency and Explainability: AI outputs should be appropriately disclosed or labeled to facilitate risk assessment and understanding of their impact on relevant rights, thereby enhancing the trustworthiness of AI.
6. Fairness: AI research and application should avoid risks such as system bias and discrimination, and should not result in discrimination against specific groups.
7. Accountability: Traceability should be maintained, and different roles in AI research and application should bear corresponding responsibilities, including internal governance responsibilities and external social responsibilities.
For those familiar with the EU AI Act, the way the principles above are framed is more direct and comprehensive than the European framework.
As I wrote a few times before, the EU missed an opportunity to be more explicit and broad when protecting fundamental rights in the context of AI development and deployment (which could help set a stronger regulatory precedent).
Another interesting provision is Article 12, focused on labor rights.
It says that, in response to the development of AI, the government must address skill gaps and ensure workers' occupational safety, health, and labor rights, including providing employment assistance to those unemployed due to AI, based on their work abilities.
To my knowledge, this is the first AI law that expressly foresees labor rights for those who lose their jobs due to AI.
Well done, Taiwan!
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