
Azalina: Malaysia needs AI law to counter emerging threats
BANGI: Malaysia needs a new artificial intelligence law in light of emerging threats, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The minister in the prime minister's department (law and institutional reform) said she has written to Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo on the need to look into AI laws.
"The biggest challenge is the issue of AI when they are using certain formats. So that's why I have written to the digital minister to look into more AI laws and related things for our country.
"There should be a joint committee between the Legal Affairs Division and the Digital Ministry on laws on AI," she told reporters after launching the National Legal Academy here today.
Azalina said the only detailed AI legislation that exists in the world today is the European Union AI Act.
She said the country would have to study the AI law, among others, to see how it could be used in the Malaysian context.
On the Legal Affairs Division's part, she said they have different committees chaired by seasoned and retired judges, looking into various situations as the world is shifting towards a different platform.
"One of the issues that we have today is that we want to digitalise the court. Now we have the voice-to-text system, and then we have a lot of online systems.
"What we want is for the court to be more efficient," she said.
Earlier this month, Gobind was reported to have said that a full report related to regulatory proposals and the possible drafting of specific laws for AI is in the works.
He had said the report is currently being finalised by the National AI Office (NAIO), which was established by the Digital Ministry last year.
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