■ Date: November 24, 2022 (Thursday) 14:00~18:00

■ Venue: Post Tower Main Conference Hall (10th floor)

On November 24, 2022, KISDI, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Telecommunications Technology Association jointly held the ‘Public Policy Seminar on the Promotion of AI Ethics’ to discuss the past year's achievements in implementing key policies designed to help increase the credibility of AI and promote the adoption of AI ethics. Held at the Junggu Post Tower in Seoul, and described as the country’s ‘1st AI Ethics Policy Forum’, the AI Ethics Policy Forum was launched in February of this year to promote discussion on ways of ensuring that the AI technologies currently under development are used ethically. The forum attracted the participation of experts in diverse fields encompassing artificial intelligence, ethics, education, and the legal system, as well as specialists from the public sector.

In 2022, three plenary sessions of the forum were held, along with three meetings of the Ethics Subcommittee, four meetings of the Technology Subcommittee, and three meetings of the Education Subcommittee.

The main aim of these meetings was to discuss ways of socially promoting AI policies designed to establish sound ethics by forming a consensus among industry, civil society, and academia.

For fruitful discussions on the need to establish an independent AI ethics system, whose operation would be governed by the civilian sector, the plenary sessions (held in February, June, and August) introduced the ongoing efforts of such companies as Scatterlab, Alchera, and WRTN Technologies to promote the credibility of AI and establish a sound ethical culture regarding the use of AI.

The Ethics Subcommittee discussed (March, June, and September) domestic and international trends in AI ethics, along with such issues as the AI ethics impact evaluation. It also gathered ideas on determining the AI Ethics Standards Voluntary Inspection Table to suit the requirements of individual companies and areas, and examined the efforts of companies like Markany to institute AI ethics.

The Technology Subcommittee discussed (March, May, July, and October) policies for establishing AI ethics, trends in AI reliability standardization activities, gathered opinions about ‘guidelines on developing reliable AI’, and shared information about the efforts of IBM, NAVER, and Microsoft Korea among others to secure reliability in AI.

The Education Subcommittee discussed (April, July, and October) the current state of AI ethics education and the concept of AI literacy. It gathered ideas about how the textbooks to be used in AI ethics education for elementary, middle and high school students should be written, and reviewed the activities of companies that specialize in AI education, such as MODULABS.

This seminar looked at the present and future of AI ethics, reviewed the operational performance of the forum, and presented the achievements of policies aimed at promoting AI ethics and AI reliability.

In his keynote lecture titled ‘The Present and Future of AI Ethics and AI Ethics Education’, Professor Byun Sun-yong of Seoul National University, the current head of the Education Subcommittee, talked about the principles of AI ethics and their significance and emphasized the importance of AI ethics education.

The keynote lecture was followed by a presentation given by associate research fellow Moon Kwang-jin (KISDI) in which he presented achievements of the AI Ethics Policy Forum and that of each subcommittee (Ethics, Technology, and Education) during the last year.

In session 1, Moon Jung-wook (KISDI), the head of the Ethics Subcommittee, gave a presentation titled ‘Building Credibility and Spreading Ethics in AI: Action Steps and Policy Tasks’ in which he talked about the need for ethics in AI and the current trends, the application of (and results of applying) the AI Ethics Standards Voluntary Inspection Table, and future policy directions.

This presentation was followed by a debate session presided over by committee member Moon Myung-jae from Yonsei University. The debate panelists included Kang Shin-wook (Shin & Kim LLC), Kim Jong-wook (Donga University), Yoon Myung (Consumers Korea), Lee Sang-wook (Hanyang University), and Lee Su-kyung (Yoon&Yang LLC), all of whom are members of the Ethics Subcommittee. They freely expressed their views on the promotion of AI ethics in our society.

In session 2, Cha Soon-Il (TTA), the head of the Technology Subcommittee, gave a presentation titled ‘Output of the Project to Develop Trustworthy Guidelines on the Development of AI’ in which he talked about the draft versions of development guidelines for intelligent CCTV, medical care, and autonomous driving.

This presentation was followed by a debate session presided over by Professor Lee Jae-ho (University of Seoul). The debate panelists included Koh Jae-hee (Kakao Enterprise), Kim Young-hoon (AWS Korea), Kim Yoo-chul (LG AI researcher), Kim Jong-yoon (Scatterlab), Shin Ji-kang (KEPRI researcher), Jang Ha-young (Surromind), and Cho Jang-rae (Microsoft Korea), all of whom are members of the Technology Subcommittee. The panelists exchanged their views on how the development guidelines could be improved to better match the reality.

In session 3, Lee Hyun-kyong, an associate research fellow from KISDI, gave a presentation titled ‘Development of a Textbook for Teaching Ethics in AI, with the Focus on AI Ethics Standards’ in which she talked about the need for ethics education in the field of AI, suggestions on how textbooks on AI ethics for elementary, middle and high school students should be written and what they should contain, and how AI ethics education should be expanded.

This presentation was followed by a debate session presided over by Professor Yang Chun-soo (Yeungnam University). The debate panelists included Kim Hyun-chul (Korea University), Kim Hyo-eun (Hanbat National University), Son Jee-won (OpenNet), Lee Ki-joon (Korean Educational Development Institute), Lee Hyun-sook (Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity), Jeong Ji-yeon (Consumer Advice Center), and Choi Sang-hyun (Hyangsan Elementary School), all of whom are members of the Education Subcommittee. The participants gave their opinions on the direction that AI ethics education should follow, based on their career experience in their respective fields.

Yeom Yeol, the director of the Artificial Intelligence Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “With the rapid growth of AI technology, the public is very excited about the social benefits that AI could bring. However, there are also genuine concerns about the negative impacts of AI, such as the invasion of privacy, and the increased disadvantages that people from socially vulnerable segments could face. For the sake of the continuous development of the AI industry, the credibility of AI and AI ethics must first be established.”

He went on to say that “The National Digital Strategy, which was announced in September 2022, is a document that clearly reflects the principles of President Yoon’s New York Vision, namely, freedom, human rights, and solidarity. We will strive to lead the world in AI by developing AI that abides by these principles and can be trusted by the general public.”