Controversy over’AI ethics’ lit up with’achieve’, ICT industry is busy preparing measures

The issue of’AI ethics’ has emerged socially due to the controversial AI chatbot’Achieved’ by sexual harassment, hate speech and personal information leakage. The domestic ICT industry, which is taking the lead in AI technology development, is also taking steps to prepare voluntary measures.

According to related industries on the 14th, start-up Scatterlab launched Iruda, an AI chatbot based on Facebook messenger, on December 23rd last year.

Eruda received a lot of attention with its natural conversational ability, and the number of users exceeded 750,000 in just two weeks of launch. However, the service was interrupted due to controversy over personal information leakage, including 1,700 KakaoTalk cases spreading online as well as discrimination against homosexuals, people with disabilities, and women.

In particular, since it is AI, there has been a widespread atmosphere that discussion on the ethics of artificial intelligence development is necessary. This is because Microsoft’s AI chatbot’Tei’, which was unveiled in 2016, and Korea’s first AI chatbot’SimSimi’ in 2002, discontinued service due to similar issues or raised controversy.

The international community is preparing for and creating AI ethical principles. The European Union (EU) released the’Reliable AI Ethics Guidelines’ in April of last year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also unanimously adopted the’Recommendation of the OECD AI Board of Directors’ in May of the same year. Google and Microsoft are also implementing their own AI ethical principles.

The Korean government has also established the’AI Ethics Standards’ that combine the opinions of academia, corporations, civic groups, and experts centered on the Ministry of Science and ICT. The domestic ICT industry is also in a position to take measures to prevent it while paying close attention to AI ethics issues.

Kakao, the first Korean IT company, prepared its own’AI Charter of Ethics’ in January 2018. It contains the content that all efforts related to algorithms will be made within ethics and the pursuit of human convenience and happiness. In addition, Kakao decided to enact and apply the’Kakao Principles to Eradicate Hate Speech’.

SK Telecom and KT, which are providing AI speakers’NUGU’ and’Gi Genie’, plan to establish their own AI ethical standards through collecting opinions and monitoring. In November of last year, SK Telecom held an AI curriculum event targeting college students and presented the topic of AI ethics.

Samsung Electronics also announced this year’s core principles of AI ethics for AI that are beneficial to humans: fairness, transparency, and accountability. Naver is also planning to proceed with the Seoul National University AI Policy Initiative and the establishment of AI ethics standards and finish it in February.

An industry insider said, “It is necessary to establish ethical principles so that AI does not discriminate against the socially underprivileged and minorities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Personal Information Protection Committee and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) have launched an investigation into whether Scatter Lab, which developed Eruda, has violated the Personal Information Protection Act.