Home News AI is a ticking time bomb if left unchecked – Pres Ali...
Describing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a “ticking time bomb” if its dark side is not brought under control, President Dr Irfaan Ali has urged that the region as a whole combine its efforts to develop AI policies and regulations.
The President made these remarks during a recent brunch held at State House on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. The President further noted that Guyana will work with its CARICOM counterparts, to develop unified policies to tackle AI.
Ali noted that there is strength in numbers, if the region combines its efforts. He made it clear that if left unchecked, AI will become a ticking time bomb. According to President Ali, they must look at both the challenges and the opportunities.
“How do we ensure in this environment of AI, that we pursue a path. And for CARICOM, I’m positioning this morning, that we pursue a common path. Because we don’t have the capacity individually to do this,” President Ali added.
“That would look at the intellectual and professional conduct of AI. That would look at the challenges, threats and opportunities of AI. That would look at policies, regulations and legislations that would ensure AI does not go unchecked. If we don’t do it, it’s a ticking time bomb.”
When it comes to AI and digitisation, he noted that Guyana’s constitution currently does not cater for this. According to him, this means that in the constitutional reform process, AI and digitisation must be among the areas dealt with.
“In Guyana, freedom of expression including the freedom of the press, is enshrined in our constitution. It is the cornerstone of our democracy, society and a fundamental human right, that allows our citizens to speak freely, access information and engage in public discourse without fear of reprisal.”
“This was enshrined in our constitution at a time when digitisation and AI was not there. That is why in the reform process, we will have to pay attention to these new areas,” President Ali further said.
Guyana has worked with CARICOM when it comes to developing other pieces of legislation. A poignant example is the CARICOM Arrest Warrant Bill, which was introduced last year as part of regional efforts to tackle crime and curb the movement of criminals in the region, while unifying separate pieces of legislation among member countries.
Already, countries around the world have been moving to set up legislation to govern AI. In the European Union (EU), laws were approved last year to regulate AI based on risk assessments of the different models. AI that carries ‘unacceptable risk’ were banned outright, while AI at the lower end of the risk spectrum will see developers having to disclose to users whenever any content, they interact with is AI generated.
Meanwhile in the US, work continues at both the federal and state level to bring about laws to regulate AI. In California for instance, there have been efforts to assess the risk of deepfake technology- AI technology that can manipulate video to mimic real persons-to the Government systems.
In February 2024, it was uncovered that a deepfake AI scam was used to trick a financial officer at a multi-national firm in Hong Kong into paying out US$25 million of the company’s money. According to authorities in Hong Kong, the scammers used deepfake technology to pose as the financial officer’s boss on a video conference call, which led to him approving the payout… only to later discover that he had been talking to fake AI recreations.
Only last week, the United States (US) House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority voted to pass a bill that would crack down on the posting of sexual images and videos of people online without their consent. This bill will include AI-generated “deepfake” nudes of real people.
Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s or region’s ability to control, create and deploy AI models using its own infrastructure, data and workforce. Recently Dr Toussant Boyce of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), while speaking at a Guyana Press Association (GPA) organised lecture, had highlighted the need for Guyana’s policy makers to leverage and regulate AI.
