Ukraine’s AI Regulations Set to Debut in 2024

Ukraine will unveil artificial intelligence (AI) regulations next year, but not until Europe does the same.

The country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation rolled out its roadmap for AI Saturday (Oct. 7), saying it hopes to help businesses with a law that will be similar to the European Union’s AI Act, while also helping citizens guard against AI risks.

“It is impossible to talk about a digital state if we do not form a progressive policy in the direction of artificial intelligence and an agenda for the world,” Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s minister of digital transformation said in the announcement, translated into English. “Already today, AI is actively used in Ukraine in various directions.”

He added that AI is especially crucial for military technology in Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, helping track enemy personnel and equipment and shoot down missiles.

The draft roadmap is expected in 2024, although not before the AI Act’s adoption, so that the national regulations line up with the regional law.

Governments are racing to regulate AI at the same time that the technology is rapidly advancing, “complicating governments’ efforts to align globally on the laws that should govern the use and development of AI,” PYMNTS wrote Monday (Oct. 9).

For example, a leaked analysis of the AI Act by the U.S. State Department warned that the legislation could inadvertently favor large AI companies at the expense of smaller startups, as well as limit investment in AI technology due to its strict compliance costs.

The rate and speed at which AI technology’s capabilities are evolving has created increased urgency for businesses, governments and both inter and intra-national institutions to understand and support the advantages of AI while at the same time working to offset its pitfalls.

Coming up with a coherent approach to AI was at the center of this year’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in September, where leaders vowed to ensure “responsible AI development, deployment and use” that would protect rights, transparency, privacy and data protection. Leaders also agreed to seek a “pro-innovation regulatory/governance approach” that takes advantage of the benefits of AI while not losing sight of potential risks.

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