Laying the Foundation for the Advancement of South Korea's AI Industry and Establishing Gwangju as a Leading AI City

Assemblyman Joincheol's First Bill: Representative Proposal of the 'AI Basic Act'

A bill has been proposed to promote the AI industry in the Republic of Korea and to establish Gwangju as a leading city for artificial intelligence.

On the 19th, Assemblyman Jo In-cheol (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Seo-gu Gap) announced that he had introduced the "Act on Fostering the Artificial Intelligence Industry and Securing Trust (AI Basic Act)" as his first bill.

The bill includes institutional measures to enhance national competitiveness through artificial intelligence (AI) and to protect human rights and interests arising from the development of AI.

The emergence of AlphaGo, which won a Go match against 9-dan Lee Sedol in 2016, and the recent popularization of AI technology through conversational AI services like ChatGPT have made AI widely accessible.

Countries around the world are rushing to overhaul laws and systems and making massive investments to secure a leading position in the AI market.

However, due to insufficient related laws in the Republic of Korea, government support for promoting the AI industry and proper regulation have not been adequately implemented. Additionally, civic groups have expressed concerns over the lack of safety measures addressing potential risks arising from AI development.

Assemblyman Jo included provisions in the "Act on Fostering the Artificial Intelligence Industry and Securing Trust" such as support for AI-related businesses and research, designation and support of AI cluster complexes, support for AI demonstration projects, and elimination of potential risks of AI.

Co-sponsors of the bill include Assemblymen and Assemblywomen Go Min-jung, Moon Jin-seok, Min Hyung-bae, Park Gyun-taek, Park Min-gyu, Park Beom-gye, Park Soo-hyun, Park Ji-won, Park Hee-seung, Ahn Do-geol, Yang Bu-nam, Wi Seong-gon, Lee Gae-ho, Jeon Jin-sook, Jeong Jun-ho, Jeong Jin-wook, Jo Guk, Joo Cheol-hyun, and Han Jeong-ae.

Meanwhile, Gwangju Metropolitan City has been investing a total of 426.5 billion won since 2020 to create an AI-centered industrial convergence cluster. By 2029, an additional 600 billion won will be invested to promote AI convergence demonstration research and establish an innovative AI demonstration ecosystem.

Assemblyman Jo In-cheol stated, “Despite the fact that we are in fierce global competition to secure the AI market, it is true that there have been limitations in government support due to legislative shortcomings. Through the AI Basic Act, this will serve as an opportunity not only to promote the AI industry in the Republic of Korea but also to elevate Gwangju as a representative city of artificial intelligence.”