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ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication is all set to announce the National Artificial Intelligence Policy by the end of February or early March.
This was revealed by senior officials of the Ministry.
Sources revealed that the policy is in the draft stage and consultation with all stakeholders has been completed. Artificial Intelligence across the globe is an evolving regime and governments are planning to put in place processes, procedures, and regulations to optimize benefit from the potential of Artificial Intelligence and also to mitigate the associated risk factors.
The Ministry of IT and Telecom has already constituted an Artificial Intelligence Policy Committee to culminate consultation and finalize the draft. The Policy Committee consists of experts from industry, academia, civil society, and government.
The regulatory framework existing in the draft policy consists of five main pillars.
At present there does not exist any AI-specific regulatory structure in the country, however, a number of initiatives including laws/rules/policies, etc in the ministry attempt to address the potential challenges associated with the use of AI.
This includes but is not limited to the National Cyber Security Policy, 2021, Pakistan Cloud First Policy, 2022, CERT Rules, 2023, and other sectorial regulations such as Critical Telecom Data and Infrastructure Security Regulation (CTDISR).
Furthermore, the Data Governance Policy will set the ground for a conducive environment towards enabling all stakeholders for seamless data exchange as envisaged in the Digital Economy Enhance Project (DEEP).
It is significant to add that the first pillar of AI provides for the AI Regulatory Directorate, Center of Excellence in AI and other measures will help enable an AI-specific regulatory framework that will conduct need-based assessment of data being created and processed for the defined purposes.
The Draft AI Policy to be introduced by the Ministry of IT and Telecom provides a solid foundation for regulating the development and use of AI in Pakistan.
The proposed framework aims to strike a balance between promoting innovation and addressing potential risks to ensure that AI is used for the benefit of society.
