A presentation of the draft law on AI regulation took place in the Mazhilis. The author of the draft law, Ekaterina Smyshlyaeva, stated that research shows that frequent use of AI leads to a decrease in the ability to think and analyze. This could pose a threat to children's cognitive development.
“Another issue is that the use of these assistants does not imply a complete absence of the need to think. It is meant to provide assistance at the basic text stage. Then, ideally, a person should engage critical thinking, assess where the truth and lies are, refine the work, find additional sources, and rephrase questions 500 times to obtain quality content.
If we activate the second part of critical thinking, the risk of cognitive function decline will decrease or we will lose it (the risk – ed. note),” Smyshlyaeva believes.
To address this issue, educational standards need to be revised. While currently, kindergartens and schools teach children to gather and analyze information, in the future, they need to be taught to critically evaluate it.
It is also important to remember that in the event of any restrictions on the use of AI, parents, not children, will be held accountable for compliance with the prohibitions, the initiative's author noted.
“Within the framework of the draft law, we will consider this issue from multiple angles and introduce bans that will genuinely work and can be effectively administered,” Smyshlyaeva added.
Another concern related to AI is deepfakes, which mislead people. Smyshlyaeva stated that there are already provisions in the Administrative and Criminal Codes that can be applied to deepfakes. However, the punishment is not associated with the mere act of spreading a deepfake but rather with its content.
“If it has insulted a person's honor and dignity, manipulated public opinion, or led to fraudulent actions resulting in material damage, then secondary liability is already applied,” Smyshlyaeva reported.
According to her, the working group will discuss the issue of deepfakes and formulate its position in about a month.
As the draft law is just beginning to be developed, specific measures that will be introduced were not announced during the presentation. It is known that the deputies plan to classify risks in the field of AI (minimal, medium, and high) and regulate systems classified as medium and high risk, as they are closely linked to the safety of society and the state. The Mazhilis members also intend to create a national platform for AI development, which the government will invest in. Additionally, they want to implement measures to enhance the protection of personal data.
“The draft law establishes requirements for developer-owners to inform users that they are dealing with AI technology. However, this issue has two sides: constructive discussions will also need to be held in working groups regarding this matter, because not all products can and should be labeled, as their volume is becoming colossal,” the deputy explained.
The working group discussing the draft law includes deputies, representatives of government agencies, and experts. In total, about 150 people are involved, concluded deputy Nurtai Sabilyanov.
Previously, “Kursiv” reported that Kazakhstan aims to create a National Lexical Fund for the Kazakh language.