■ Event: 1st AI Reliability and Quality Awards & 2023 Forum and Public Seminar on AI Ethics Policy

■ Time/date: 13:00 - 17:20, Thursday, November 23, 2023

■ Venue: Online real-time streaming from Orce Hall (5th floor)

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), and the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) jointly held the 2023 Forum and Public Seminar on AI Ethics Policy at the EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in connection with the 1st AI Reliability and Quality Awards, with some 200 people in attendance.

The event was held to disclose the operational activities of the 2nd AI Ethics Policy Forum** and the outcomes of major policies and to collect opinions amid the recent international trend* of intensifying social concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence technology, such as deepening discrimination and bias, and invasion of privacy, as well as to revitalize the related discussions.

* US President Biden signed an executive order concerning the safe and reliable development and use of AI (October 2023), while the UK proposed to strengthen safety testing cooperation at the global level by holding the AI Safety Summit (November 2023)

** A communication venue where experts from diverse fields, including academia, education, industry, law, and the public, participate in discussions about newly emerging ethical issues in a bid to promote the ethical development and use of AI (2022 -).

In particular, this Public Seminar is linked with the first AI Reliability and Quality Awards, in which excellent products and services that have demonstrated AI reliability are selected and awarded. It was particularly meaningful in that the policy issues promoted earlier this year were presented to the public for the first time - including the plan for AI ethics impact assessment and AI ethics education materials designed for the general public. The discussion process was revealed to the public via an online live broadcast*.

*Transmitted to the Ministry of Science and ICT’s YouTube and AI Ethics Communication Channel (https://ai.kisdi.re.kr).

At the awards ceremony, two Minister of Science and ICT Awards and seven Excellence Awards were presented to companies that have developed or provided products and services that demonstrate AI reliability. The Grand Prize was awarded to Genesis Lab, Inc., which has established its own ethics checklist concerning the AI Ethical Standards and conducted reliability verification of its interview evaluation solution, while the Best Prize was presented to AITRICS Corp. in recognition of its medical software for the early diagnosis and prediction of acute diseases based on explainable AI.

* (Grand Prize) Genesis Lab, Inc., (Best Prize) AITRICS Corp., (Excellence Prize) Lablup Inc., 42Maru Inc., Upstage Co., Ltd., Omnious Co., Ltd., ESTsoft Vorp., Crowdworks Inc., and SANDS Lab Inc.

The ceremony was followed by a public seminar that began with performance reports and policy recommendations and consisted of presentations and panel discussions for each session: ① Ethics, ② Technology, and ③ Education. Kwangjin MOON, KISDI Associate Research Fellow, presented the activities of the forum over the past year, including its discussions of issues related to the use of generative AI in law and education, and the ethical issues to be considered when establishing the Digital Bill of Rights.

Next, Forum Chairperson Myeong-joo KIM (Professor at Seoul Women's University) presented the “Proposal for AI Ethics Policy According to Global Trends in AI Regulation,” during which he reviewed the international trend towards managing risks resulting from the recent spread of generative AI and emphasized the need for Korea to play a leading role by enacting the Artificial Intelligence Act, which deals with the cultivation of industries and the establishment of a firm foundation for AI reliability in a balanced manner, by implementing an AI ethics impact assessment and reliability certification system, and by participating in global AI governance.

In Session 1, Jung Wook MOON, head of the Ethics Subcommittee (Director of KISDI), presented the ethical impact assessment system (draft), which consists of the following stages: △target selection, △basic analysis (specification and refinement of assessment tools), △implementation of impact assessment, and the reporting of △policy suggestions under the theme of AI Ethics Impact Assessment (draft). Referring to the ethical impact assessment guidelines published by UNESCO, he added that he would review and describe the positive and negative impacts of each ethical principle and conduct a multifaceted assessment (using the expert assessment group, the open forum, and online channels) to ensure the validity of the process and its results.

In Session 2, Kang-hae LEE, head of the Technology Subcommittee (TTA Director), gave △an overview of the certification system, △certification criteria, and △testing and certification procedures under the topic of “Private Autonomous Certification of AI Reliability” and then discussed the development progress of the 2024 Trustworthy AI Development Guide. In particular, to increase international public confidence in reliability certification, he emphasized both the need for close cooperation with the IEEE and NIST* to ensure mutual compatibility, and the need for continuous supplementation of the development guide by reflecting the latest research trends related to AI, such as the introduction of watermarks in the results of generative artificial intelligence.

* IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): An international academic and standardization organization in the electrical, electronics, and computer fields.

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): A US federal research institute that studies science and industrial technology standards.

In Session 3, KISDI research fellow Seong Eun CHO delivered a presentation on the “Development Process and Content of AI Ethics Educational Materials for the General Public,” which covered △the necessity for such materials, △their composition and purpose, and △their table of contents and main contents. He explained that, given the large digital competency gap between general adult learners, the textbook for the public had to be structured in such a way that each content encourages examination and reflection on the social impacts and ethical issues raised by AI technology based on simple experience or practice, rather than focusing on theory or knowledge transfer.

“Although concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence have been growing recently, today’s awards ceremony has confirmed that many companies are making concerted efforts to secure AI reliability and ethics. The government will spare no effort in providing policy support to expand the industry’s voluntary efforts further still,” declared Do-hyeon KANG, head of the ICT Policy Coordination Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT.

"The Digital Bill of Rights announced on September 25, 2023 was prepared to realize a common, prosperous, digital society. It emphasizes that digital technology must be developed and used in a responsible and ethical manner to ensure safety and trust. It is essential to promote public-private cooperation policies so as to secure AI ethics and reliability, which is the foundation of a common and prosperous digital society, and the Forum should continue making efforts to that end.”