Japan Lower House Passes AI Promotion Bill

Tokyo, April 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, passed a bill on Thursday to promote the development of artificial intelligence technology and take steps to mitigate its risks.

The legislation is expected to be enacted during the current parliamentary session set to end in June after deliberations at the House of Councillors, the upper chamber.

AI "will be the foundation of economic and social development and is an important technology from the viewpoint of security," the bill said.

The bill calls for setting up a task force, to be led by the prime minister, to craft a basic plan to promote AI development in Japan, widely viewed as lagging behind Europe and the United States in the area.

The legislation also warns that if AI technology is used for illegal purposes or in inappropriate ways, it could facilitate crimes, personal information theft and copyright infringement.

Business operators "must cooperate with measures taken by the central and local governments," the bill said.

In the event of human rights violations, the central government will investigate and take necessary steps, such as providing guidance and advice to research institutes and business operators, according to the bill.

The bill includes a provision that allows the names of malicious business operators to be disclosed.

However, no penalties are included in the bill, so as not to hinder technological innovation. The government plans to address problems using existing laws and regulations, such as the Penal Code and the copyright law.

To the bill, the Lower House Cabinet Committee attached a supplementary resolution seeking stronger measures against sophisticated pornographic images and videos created with AI technology.

After the bill is enacted, the government plans to draw up guidelines and ask AI developers and businesses to comply with international norms, such as the use of digital watermarks for AI-generated content.
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