Putting the OECD AI Principles into practice: progress and future perspectives

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This high-level discussion about implementing the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence in policies and practices took place Monday, 4 October 2021

Two years later, how far have we put the OECD AI principles into practice?

The OECD and signatory countries of the OECD AI Principles have been making great progress: Speakers in the event took stock of developments such as the June 2019 G20 AI Principles that draw from the OECD AI Principles; the OECD.AI Policy Observatory and its Network of Experts; the establishment of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) in June 2020; the European Union proposed AI regulation of April 2021 and other national and international initiatives.

OECD countries adopted the OECD AI Principles in May 2019 at the Ministerial Council Meeting. The Principles promote innovative and trustworthy AI that respects human rights and democratic values.

This first intergovernmental standard on AI is recognised globally as an example of good governance for emerging technologies. As of July 2021, 46 governments (38 OECD Members and 8 non-Members) have adhered to the AI Principles.

In February 2020, the online OECD.AI Policy Observatory was launched to facilitate the implementation of the Principles by providing evidence and guidance on AI metrics and to constitute a hub for dialogue and sharing best practices on AI policies. The upcoming MCM is, therefore, a timely occasion, more than two years after adopting the OECD AI principles, to highlight the OECD work to implement the principles. In particular, this side event ahead of the MCM of 5-6 October will showcase recent initiatives, informed by and developed through the OECD.AI Network of Experts (ONE AI), including a framework for AI systems classification, recent reports on tools for trustworthy AI, national AI policies, and venture capital investment in AI (pending publication), as well as new features on OECD.AI where the evidence base continues to be expanded. The event will also spotlight work under the OECD Programme on Work, Innovation, Productivity, and Skills (AI-WIPS), supported by Germany, which analyses the impact of AI on the labour market, skills and social policy.

More than two years after adopting the OECD AI Principles, this discussion highlighted how countries implement policies for trustworthy, human-centric AI. The session focused on the following:

• Lessons learned to date implementing AI policies to steer the transformation of our economies and societies for inclusive growth and addressing global challenges.
• Risk-based approaches to AI governance and soft and hard law, including the proposed EU AI Act that is triggering discussions worldwide.
• How to ensure that our policies and legal frameworks for AI are interoperable globally.
• And the priorities for international cooperation on AI moving forward.

Agenda

14:00 – 14:15: Opening remarks

• Vice Chair of the MCM, Republic of Korea: Mr. CHO Kyeongsik, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT (Confirmed, in person)
• OECD: Mr. Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General (Confirmed, in person)

14:15 – 15:00: Kick-off presentations about progress over the past two years in implementing the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence and future directions (45 minutes, including Q&A)

Moderator: Mr. Ulrik Knudsen, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD (Confirmed, in person)

• Ms. Audrey Plonk, Head of Division, Digital Economy Policy, OECD (Confirmed, in person)
• Mr. Roberto Viola, Director General, Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), European Commission (Confirmed, remote)
• Ms. Lynne Parker, Director, National AI Initiative Office, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, United States of America (Confirmed, remote)
• Ms. Kyunghee Song, Director General, Artificial Intelligence Policy Bureau, Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea (Confirmed, remote)

15:00 – 15:55: Panel discussion on priorities for international cooperation on AI governance (55 minutes, including Q&A)

Moderator: Mr. Dirk Pilat, Deputy Director, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (Confirmed, in person)

Questions for discussion include:

• What are the key challenges in AI governance and regulation from your perspective?
• Should we maintain upstream governance (e.g. norms and principles), or is it time to intervene with downstream governance (e.g. regulation and technical standards) in AI?
• What are the high-risk AI systems, and how should we approach regulating them?
• Where can the OECD add the most value in AI governance toward trustworthy, human-centric AI?

Panellists:

• Mr. Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft (Confirmed, remote)
• Mr. Andrea Renda, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation and the Digital Economy (GRID) at CEPS (Confirmed, remote)
• Mr. Vilas Dhar, President and Trustee, Patrick Mc Govern Foundation (Confirmed, remote)
• Mr. Haksoo Ko, Professor, Seoul National University Law School, Asia-Pacific Law Institute Director (Confirmed, remote)
• Ms. Amanda Ballantyne, Director, Technology Institute of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) (Confirmed, remote)

15.55 – 16.00: Closing remarks

• Vice Chair of the MCM, Republic of Korea: Mr. CHO Kyeongsik, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT (Confirmed, in person)

Visit the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting 2021 website

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