Artificial Intelligence Wide Spread Usage and the Need to Protect Artificial Intelligence Usage of Personal Data

The extremely rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and its applications across all manner of information processing, analysing and storing has become and will continue to be a highly important and invaluable aid to the active processing of information.  A number of jurisdictions worldwide have established and are proceeding to refine laws and regulations in response to the worldwide rapid development of AI and the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong (“the Commissioner”) has very creditably joined the broad mass of regulatory authorities around the world to issue and publish certain guidelines to highlight the risks found in and likely to damage third parties through the use of personal data in AI applications.  In 2021 the Commissioner in Hong Kong published a guidance on the ethical development and use of AI.  In order to support the AI governance initiatives of the Peoples Republic of China from a Hong Kong base, the Commissioner has developed the Artificial Intelligence Model Personal Data Protection Framework which targets organisations procuring, implementing and using AI systems that involve the use of personal data so that using organisations will more accurately adhere to the Data Stewardship Values and Ethical Principles previously issued by the Commissioner.  The Model Framework now issued by the Commissioner in Hong Kong is the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.  To this end, the new Model Framework provides best practice recommendations involving the use of personal data whether in Hong Kong or the international AI user community to cover organisations procuring AI solutions from third parties and governing the engagement in handling of personal data in the proper development of AI systems with particular reference to ensuring compliance with all the data protection principles scheduled to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.  These guidelines were prepared over the last two years and issued in June 2024 in order to warn and educate the cutting edge of Hong Kong AI usage to bring it into appropriately warned conduct and behaviour in all aspects of realisation of the enormous benefits available through AI.