Ministry of Science and ICT Gathers Expert Opinions on AI Safety... "Potential to Expand into a National Security Issue"

The Ministry of Science and ICT brought together AI and security experts to gather opinions on creating an AI safety ecosystem. The experts pointed out that discussions on AI safety issues should be expanded to the realm of national security.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) held an opinion-gathering meeting on the Master Plan to Establish an AI Safety Ecosystem at Bankers Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 6th. Reporter Gong Byungseon

The Ministry of Science and ICT held a consultation meeting to gather opinions on the Master Plan for Creating an AI Safety Ecosystem on the 6th at Eunhaeng Hoegwan in Jung-gu, Seoul. The meeting was held in cooperation with the Telecommunications Technology Association and the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute.

At the meeting, Kwak Junho, Team Leader at the Telecommunications Technology Association, warned in his presentation that security risks arising from AI could expand into national security issues. Kwak said, "There are voices calling for us to define the areas in which AI should be used before we lose control over AI," adding, "AI can expand into very serious national security issues such as public opinion manipulation or cyberterrorism." He went on to emphasize that a safe environment must be created to protect the public from AI-related risks.

Experts from civil society, academia, and industry stressed during the discussion that, as the scope of AI utilization grows, more effort is needed to ensure safety. Lee Jieun, Senior Secretary at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, pointed out, "When people suffer disadvantages due to AI, it is unclear why such results occurred and what procedures they can follow to seek remedies; the procedures and explanations are not visible." Jung Jiyeon, Secretary-General of the Korea Consumer Federation, said, "If we leave everything to voluntary efforts, in the end we are shifting safety issues onto the public."

Kim Kyunghoon, AI Safety Leader at Kakao, emphasized that discussions on safety must become more active. He said, "AI is rapidly advancing through open-source communities, and we also need open-source communities that focus on safety evaluations and technologies," adding, "Compared with overseas, such communities are relatively weak in Korea." He further explained, "It is important to approach safety from a technological perspective, but it is also important to reflect on the concept of safety through public debate. If the government makes significant efforts, it will be a great help from the perspective of the safety ecosystem."

Professor Lee Sanggeun of the Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University said, "We are adopting AI at a very fast pace in industrial sectors, especially in finance, healthcare, and the public sector, compared with other countries," adding, "However, the issues of safety, trust, and security are very serious. We need to expand the discourse beyond safety and security to include national security." He also said, "When we discuss AI safety, we mainly focus on general-purpose AI. In Germany, they are approaching the issue in specific sectors such as finance and healthcare, and we should refer to this and broaden our discussions on security threats related to AI."

Kim Myungjoo, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, explained that infrastructure and other foundations are being built to enable AI utilization. He said, "Based on the AI Safety Convergence Center, we are planning to foster multidisciplinary convergence talents in the field of AI safety," adding, "We will establish AI safety evaluation and legal and institutional standards, and we will share the institute’s testbed infrastructure (a platform for testing new technologies) for safety inspections with companies and researchers." The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to announce the national Master Plan for Creating an AI Safety Ecosystem in the first half of the year, reflecting the opinions gathered at the consultation meeting.