KU School of Law holds joint conference with Harvard University
“AI Ethics and Data Governance, From International Trends to Three Acts Regarding Data”
The American Law Center, an affiliate of the KU School of Law, and the Berkman Klein Center of Harvard University held a joint conference at the Veritas Hall in KU CJ Law Hall on January 20, 2020, presenting a comprehensive analysis, “Principled Artificial Intelligence (AI),” covering 36 ethical principles related to AI.
This international conference was held to discuss relevant norms, laws and future directions for AI and related algorithms. The KU American Law Center jointly hosted the conference with Open Net, a civic organization engaged in information human rights, and in collaboration with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center. The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers and Digital Asia Hub were invited as well.
The event began with the opening remarks of Hyo-Jil Ahn, Dean of the School of Law. Ahn welcomed the participating institutions, as well as the panelists who had been invited to the conference, and thanked researchers for their hard work and efforts in this field. He emphasized the importance of the conference by noting the purpose of the event, which was to examine from various academic aspects the issues regarding AI and data that are currently receiving great attention.
The program was divided into two sessions, consisting of presentations followed by comprehensive discussions. The core content of the first session was “Principled AI Project,” presented for the first time by Professor Jessica Field from Harvard University’s Cyberlaw Clinic. This project is a white paper that maps the core ethical principles regarding AI and data visualization. The presentation was followed by the discussions of Professor Herbert Burkert of St. Galen University and Professor Marcelo Thompson of the University of Hong Kong, who shared their ideas and perspectives on how to view AI and data issues.
In addition to on-site participation, Professor Graham Greenleaf of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Malavika Jayaram of the Digital Asia Hub, Singapore participated remotely, confirming the international interest in issues of data and privacy.
During the comprehensive discussion session, Kyung-shin Park, a KU School of Law professor and the head of the American Law Center, moderated the discussions, and panelists from various backgrounds participated, including attorney Kim Ga-yeon of the civil organization Open Net, research fellow Eun-pil Choi of Kakao, and Director Carlos Affonso Souza of ITS Rio. All shared their interests, perspectives and interpretations during the in-depth discussions. In particular, the discussions reflected the enforcement of the three acts, namely Personal Information Protection Act, Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., and Credit Information Use and Protection Act, regarding data that allow information processed pseudonymously to be used for academic purposes, such as statistics and scientific research, without the consent of the data subjects. An in-depth look at such issues emerged through heated discussions between Dae-hee Lee, a KU School of Law professor, and Byung-il Oh, representing the Progressive Network Center, regarding how to handle the protection of personal information and open data.
In addition to the panel discussions, attendees from various fields, including the media, research institutes, private companies and public institutions, participated in floor discussions, adding depth to them, presenting new perspectives through keen questions and summarizing the contents of the conference.
The conference was designed to enable discussion of various issues, including personal privacy and data governance, centered on the core topic of AI and data. It was successfully completed, producing new ideas and conclusions through comprehensive and insightful analysis integrating law, philosophy, and information and communication technology.