Ukraine Unveils AI Regulatory Roadmap

On October 7, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine presented its regulatory roadmap for artificial intelligence (AI).

The roadmap was published on the ministry’s website and seeks to assist local businesses in preparing for the adoption of a law similar to the AI Act of the European Union. It also aims to educate citizens on how to defend themselves from AI-related threats.

According to the roadmap’s announcement, it is founded on a bottom-up strategy that suggests moving from less to more, and it will provide businesses with tools to prepare for future requirements before the adoption of new laws.

In the next two to three years, the road map establishes a preliminary period to enable companies to adapt to potential legislation. Oleksandr Borniakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, explains:

“We plan to create a culture of business self-regulation in several ways. In particular, by signing voluntary codes of conduct that will testify to companies’ ethical use of AI by companies. Another tool is a White Paper that will familiarise businesses with the approach, timing, and stages of regulatory implementation.”

According to the roadmap, a draft of the Ukrainian AI legislation is expected in 2024, but not before the EU’s AI Act allows the national law to consider it.

The European Parliament enacted the EU AI Act in June. Once enacted, the act would prohibit certain AI services and products while restricting or limiting others.

Biometric surveillance, social scoring systems, predictive policing, so-called “emotion recognition,” and untargeted facial recognition systems are all outlawed.

If their outputs were designated as AI-generated, generative AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard would be permitted to operate.