Abe calls for creating AI rules at G-7 Meeting

August 27, 2019

Biarritz, France--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on his counterparts in the Group of Seven major countries on Monday to create rules for utilizing artificial intelligence technology.

Now is the time to work on making specific rules on AI utilization through cooperation among government, industry and academic officials, Abe said during discussions on the digital economy that the G-7 leaders held on the final day of their three-day summit in Biarritz, southwestern France.

Abe's call came after leaders from the Group of 20 major economies, meeting in Osaka, Japan, in June, agreed to promote human-centered AI development, while referring to the possibility of the rapid spread of the technology bringing about drastic changes to the labor market.

At the G-7 summit, Abe underlined the need to make specific rules on AI use based on the G-20 agreement. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

France, which chaired the summit, initially planned to craft a document that would sum up the discussions on the digital economy, but the plan was dropped to allow the leaders to express opinions frankly, sources familiar with the situation said.

In a declaration issued after the summit, the G-7 leaders confirmed their goal of "reaching in 2020 an agreement to simplify regulatory barriers and modernize international taxation" to prevent tax avoidance by technology giants.

U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, meeting on the G-7 summit's sidelines, resolved their differences over Paris' newly introduced digital services tax targeting tech giants. Jiji Press