JAMAICA is in dire need of comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI) laws to govern and regulate the implementation of the technology, according to technology experts.

“As with any technology, there are some bad things that AI can be used for. In the same way you can use AI to be efficient for good things, you can use AI to be efficient at bad things so we need to make sure our laws and regulations are broadened and reviewed to contemplate the effect and impact technologies like artificial intelligence will have,” said Trevor Forrest, chief executive officer (CEO) of 876 Technology Solutions, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

While AI brings undeniable benefits there is a growing concern about the potential misuse of AI and the ethical implications surrounding its deployment. Hence, experts are urging policymakers to draft legislation that not only foster AI innovation but also prioritise ethical and responsible AI development. Forrest says Jamaica does not have the luxury of not paying attention to the changes associated with the inclusion of AI because the rest of the world is taking advantage of it and equipping its people, and we have to do the same by looking at how other countries are doing this, examine our own context, assess how it can affect us, and figure out how we deal with this matter.

AI-generated images can reflect a person doing defamatory or illegal activities or relaying false information. According to Matthew stone, an AI researcher and CEO of Stone Technologies Limited (robotics and AI company), “deepfake” is a tool used to generate images and videos to impersonate another person. With this AI tool he says lawsuits will arise, and “we don’t have a legal framework right now to handle that”. It can also be used in future political campaigns to manipulate voters in elections. “What’s the repercussion? Right now, there’s none,” Stone said pressingly. He is of the view that everything — from generating fake content and disinformation, to ownership of data rights — is all going to come down on us soon if we don’t have a framework to deal with the future repercussions of generative AI.

“I think the Government would need to put together a task force right away to tackle how AI should be used in society, and consult private stakeholders, researchers and academics to really craft some sensible policies that could help us navigate this AI revolution,” Stone told the Sunday Finance. He added that sitting, waiting, and hoping for the best is the wrong approach as AI has tremendous potential to disrupt our society.

He pointed to further potential threats that could arise from AI which need governing, such as the concerns about the impact of AI on the workforce and its potential to cause job displacement due to automation. Furthermore, he asked, what’s stopping a company, in their legal framework, from replacing all workforces with AI? As an AI researcher Stone is on the supportive side of AI and sees it in a positive light, tools to be used to advance our society. However, he stressed that Jamaica cannot be blind to the potential repercussions if the society is not set up to navigate this technology.

With these tools, he says, criminals can also be assisted to advance their scamming techniques. “These AI tools can literally impersonate anybody’s voice. They can have somebody acting like your aunt or uncle or your child telling you that you need to send money to so-and-so because they’re in trouble, and they literally sound like your child [so] out of your own free will you send them money,” he warned.

Both Forrest and Stone made some recommendations for where the Government should start as it relates to the first few steps towards building a future in which AI works for the betterment of Jamaicans while safeguarding their rights and dignity. “If you use AI-generated images with the idea of misleading then you pay some kind of fine — that is simple enough law that could potentially stop some harm from happening,” suggested Forrest. Stone, on the other hand, suggested that the laws address any bias that is present in AI systems, both in their development and deployment, to ensure fairness and equity in AI-driven decision-making processes. “How it [AI] was created, they are trained with data, and depending on the data that you use, some of it might be biased, it might have some form of prejudice or racism. [So] if you have AIs looking at these resumes and AI have implicit biases in them [this can pose a challenge] — for example, a person from a specific area submits their resume and because of the resumes submitted in the past they have implicit biases there that say, ‘OK they are from this area, let me not choose this person,’ ” he explained.

Stone believes, however, that the issue of intellectual property is what would affect the country the most. With AI, more countries are going to misappropriate other countries’ cultures, generating music and content to compete with local artistes. “Music is a big part of our economy; a lot of artistes depend on music. If you have other countries being able to produce reggae songs — and AI technology is very powerful so you can at some point figure out the perfect melody and lyrics and get people so addicted — I can see a future where most of the songs we are listening to are AI-generated. How do we as an economy handle that situation?” he asked.