AI/ASEAN Programme

Artificial Intelligence has been heralded as a transformative technology and is already in the process of enhancing, disrupting, and fundamentally changing the way in which we consume, create and make decisions. As with all transformative general purpose technologies, there are significant risks alongside any positive disruption. This is especially the case with AI given the possibility that it becomes more powerful than humans and any security systems created around it. There are a range of other risks to consider in the meantime, from AI-generated disinformation, privacy concerns, copyright and ownership issues, as well as economic impacts like job displacement and competition concerns.

Southeast Asia has a burgeoning digital economy, with a growing young, tech-savvy, urban population of potential consumers of AI-driven technology. Similarly, the potential for AI to play a major role in the next phase of industrial development – from energy systems to factory and warehouse management – is significant. Meanwhile, AI has a role to play in improving public services and administration, should it be effectively harnessed by governments in the region.

Policymakers across the world are wrestling with the set of challenges that the advent of AI poses: how to make AI safe, how to create the environment for AI to flourish, and how to use to AI for the purposes of the state, whether in a security and defence capacity or improving public health outcomes. All these three challenges are intertwined, along with a range of other related policy issues around the availability and use of data and access to the hardware that makes AI possible.

Southeast Asia is also at the beginning of its policy development journey on AI. There is great diversity in the capacities of governments in Southeast Asia to adopt AI in their economy and public administration, as well as their ability to develop comprehensive responses to all of the issues mentioned. However, most countries in the region have some form of national AI policy or strategy, and at the regional level, ASEAN’s Digital Ministers is developing a Guide on AI Governance and Ethics which proposes an ASEAN Working Group on AI Governance to coordinate national AI governance policies. At least at the ASEAN level, Southeast Asia is taking a relatively hands-off approach to regulation, though whether this translates to national approaches remains to be seen.

The ‘AI/ASEAN’ programme will explore the policy direction for AI at the regional level and across Southeast Asian markets. The programme will explore government and stakeholder views on AI and AI policy development in the region, research best practice policy for the ASEAN context, and convene stakeholders and policymakers to drive dialogue on AI.