Minister Audrey Tang from the Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) actively engaged in discussions that explored initiatives for AI democratisation that promote innovation and safety by involving the public at large.
According to Minister Audrey, Taiwan has passed laws to counter the damages brought on by generative AI, including deep fake fraud, synthetic pornography and election tampering, all of which jeopardise public trust.
The moda-led National Institute of Cyber Security aims to establish an “AI Evaluation Centre” by the year’s end, collaborating closely with the National Science and Technology Council’s “Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine (TAIDE).
Together they aim to advance open-licensed foundational language models that can change their interaction modes depending on the actual application domains of various ethnic languages, thereby co-creating AI applications that satisfy the criteria of democratisation.
The Minister also emphasised the need for international players to work together to handle the potential threats of AI, just as they should with other pressing global concerns like pandemics and nuclear weapons.
To ensure that everyone has equal access to and usage of AI, the development of AI should not just reflect the opinions of developers or groups, but also be led by the “Taiwan Model” of openness, fairness, and transparency.
The “Taiwan Model” is supported by two pillars: a democratic alignment and an open model, Minister Audrey noted. This year, the moda sponsored the Ideathon, which promotes public involvement in the AI development process to overcome obstacles and align values.
To reach an agreement on the limits of AI, Taiwan will cooperate with international teams to initiate deliberative workshops through the “Future Democratisation of AI” dialogue in July of this year. The dialogue will start in Taiwan and connect globally.
Also, Minister Audrey emphasised the significance of developing a safe and long-lasting road for AI governance. To realise AI democratisation and build an unlimited future, this can be done by amplifying different voices and putting the Taiwan Model into practice.
In addition, Minister Audrey headed a group to the UK to a British satellite service provider’s headquarters to learn more about the business’ satellite technology and operations. The moda is constructing a non-synchronous orbital satellite as a backup network, and the minister invited all suitably competent providers from the industry to participate. She also anticipated that this trip would make it easier for Taiwan and the UK to collaborate on digital resilience.
The “Programme for the Digital Resilience Validation of Emerging Technologies for Contingency or Wartime Applications,” which will conduct a Proof of Concept (PoC) on non-synchronous orbiting satellites as an emergency backup network, was introduced by Minister Audrey.
She also emphasised that Taiwan has long been vulnerable to external influences and natural disasters like earthquakes and that in the event of an emergency, Taiwan would experience communication problems brought on by damaged submarine cables.
According to Minister Audrey, in a time when AI and other technologies are rapidly gaining popularity, it is important to encourage civil society participation in governance through democratisation and to create a positive cycle through the collective efforts of the people to move towards a trustworthy digital era.
The UK commends Taiwan’s leadership position in digital technology, affirms and supports Taiwan’s development path towards democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and is eager to expand trade cooperation and dialogue between Taiwan and the UK to forge a partnership that serves both countries’ interests.
