G7 ministers focus on AI risks, digital infrastructure in pre-summit meeting in Japan

Ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations began a two-day meeting on Saturday in eastern Japan in which high-priority issues in the digital sphere, including artificial intelligence governance and building secure and resilient infrastructure, are to be discussed.

The G7 Digital and Tech Ministers’ Meeting in the Gunma Prefecture city of Takasaki, northwest of Tokyo, is one in a series of ministerial meetings taking place in the run-up to the G7 summit next month. Among its aims is the promotion of technologies to improve the flow of cross-border data and a free and open internet.

The rapid progress of AI development has highlighted the need for international standards to govern the technology, with many countries stepping up regulations on the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

In addition to opposing uses that would undermine democratic values, the G7 digital ministers are aiming to adopt an action plan to promote the responsible use of AI, calling for broad stakeholder participation in developing international standards.

China to embrace AI advances but also control risks as ChatGPT wave spreads

The ministers are also expected to draw up an action plan for internet governance, addressing issues such as fake news and other forms of disinformation seen, for example, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Constructing secure network infrastructure to support emerging and developing countries, and promoting collaboration to improve the connectivity of undersea cables in light of geopolitical risks, will also be a topic of discussion during the meeting.

Digital ministers are additionally aiming to establish an international framework for Data Free Flow with Trust, a concept proposed by Japan at the World Economic Forum annual summit in 2019 to facilitate economic growth on a global scale through free data flows across borders with trusted interoperable governance.

While Japan has already signed bilateral agreements in digital trade with the European Union, United States and Britain, the DFFT framework seeks to take this to the multilateral level.

The G7 meeting, jointly chaired by Digital Minister Taro Kono, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, will also focus on innovative governance necessary to facilitate disruptive technologies like cyber-physical systems.

Such intelligent systems are representative of the digital transformation envisioned by the Japanese government, where the cyber- and physical world are seamlessly integrated, and quality of life is improved through optimised processes and better decision-making.

The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the EU. Japan holds the rotating G7 presidency for the first time since 2016.

Ministers from India and Indonesia, this year’s respective hosts of meetings of the Group of 20 major economies and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Ukraine have been invited to the meeting.