MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, has officially launched its Public Policy for Safe and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems.
Unveiled earlier this week, the policy “aims to govern the use and development of Artificial Intelligence (Al) systems in the Sultanate of Oman by establishing a comprehensive framework that combines technical controls and ethical principles”.
The policy will apply to all government bodies and private sector organisations which are involved in the development or use of AI Systems across stages including data collection, system design, training, operation, and ongoing evaluation.
According to the document, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology will be responsible for monitoring the overall compliance of government administrative units and report to the Council of Ministers, while sectoral regulatory bodies will be responsible for enforcement within their domains.
The policy underscores three main ethical principles for the use and development of AI Systems. These include Humanity and Society, Inclusivity and Justice, and Responsibility and Accountability.
According to the policy, users and developers must respect human dignity and ensure the right to human intervention in sensitive decisions, in addition to promoting the use of AI technologies in establishing societal well-being and sustainability. They must also ensure that the benefits achieved through AI are distributed fairly across different social groups, and that these technologies do not contribute to increasing economic disparities.
Furthermore, users and developers must design systems that ensure no bias occurs based on race, gender, religion, or any other personal characteristic, in alignment with Islamic principles and ethical values. This includes using a wide, diverse set of data in training systems that represents different societal groups, including minorities and individuals with disabilities.
In addition, the policy calls for ensuring that technologies are accessible to everyone through public and private sector collaboration, in order to provide technologies at affordable and equitable prices, while focusing on enhancing access for low-income groups.
Moreover, the policy mandates the creation of secure systems free from any breaches, in addition to providing clear effective mechanisms for accountability when errors or damages occur, in addition to ensuring the audit-ability of systems to guarantee compliance with ethical standards.
The policy represents a major step in regulating Oman’s AI sector, which has been identified as a key sector to achieve economic diversification under the country’s digital economy programme, which aims to boost the contribution of the digital economy from current 2% to 5% by 2030 and 10% by 2040.
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