I recently asked ChatGPT a few questions. Amongst the many questions on various topics, I chose to interrogate it on something that I know well. I asked it whether Pakistan had local DTH (Direct To Home satellite distribution) services. It confirmed the existence of three licenses and further elaborated their popularity amongst Pakistani households. Pakistan does not have any local DTH services and only one non-operational license.
This was my motivation to write these lines.
Modern AI, in a nutshell is, complex analytical algorithms that seek to emulate human intelligence. Large volumes of data fuel its various applications. Today’s global AI leaders like Google, Amazon Microsoft and AliBaba have access to vast amounts of structured and unstructured longitudinal data that is being collected across the globe every hour and day. This data is the political and commercial gold of today’s information age. The regulatory struggles of Huawei and TikTok we see in the western markets or the Chinese restrictions on Google and Facebook exemplify the political brinkmanship for this data.
In recent weeks, Elon Musk and other experts have urged for a pause in further AI development, and spoke of its risks to human civilization. There are concerns that modern AI renditions on well established historic, religious and cultural facts can potentially disturb the present global order. There is also a possibility of AI being used in the modern political and armed conflicts. Other social and ethical concerns are located around generic AI applications being influenced by source bias. Then there are privacy and safety concerns if such capabilities land in the hands of either authoritarian states or criminals. Lastly, there are risks of deliberate misinformation or political prejudices seeping into different AI applications and subsequent human decision-making processes.
For the countries in the global south, these calls and worries are a far cry from their reality. These countries, including ours, have historically been client states to the technology prowess of their global power partners or other technology leaders. In a majority of cases, these countries have no legal and regulatory purview, or access to the data collected by global technology leaders in their jurisdictions. But this shouldn’t be the case for us, a country with one of the largest connected populations and a literal green field for such opportunities.
Recent calls and efforts for creating Pakistan’s own AI policy are steps in the right direction. A draft is reportedly to be in works as well. However, a policy alone will be insufficient and ineffective without creating a new national philosophy and vision on technology. Our biggest challenge today is the absence of number of important building blocks in political, policy, statutory and infrastructure arenas. Local developments in all new technologies, or partnerships with foreign stakeholders cannot take commercial root without these.
In the policy and regulatory space, it is time to consider the transformation of PTA into a digital technology regulator and a unified secretariat for all digital policy developments in public and private spheres. Besides the need for significantly building its existing capacities and capabilities, it requires an expansion into new specialisms. Moreover, in the statutory arena, we need prompt strides on privacy and data protection issues. Furthermore, our stubborn experimentation with statutes like PECA 2016 is our Achilles’ heel and so far, a futile exercise that is hindering engagement with global technology leaders. We must remember that these companies are also potential technology partners for us.
These changes in the policy and statutory environments will instinctively lead to creation of new commercial interests and opportunities. In addition to these, we should open our regulatory and policy thinking to international best practices and advice. We need this learning to create our local standards and regulations for data lifecycles in different industries and sectors. This, in an ideal world, will incentivize digitization of business and public processes, which subsequently will improve public sector’s efficiencies and commercial sector’s health.
On the other hand, successful introduction of new technologies in our public sector requires overcoming rife political fragmentation, institutional silos and decentralized processes. For example, Pakistan has multiple driver licensing authorities in its length and breadth compared to UK’s one agency. Similar problems exist in education, policing, health, vehicle excise and taxation etc. They create barriers in data flows that a national AI policy cannot resolve. UAE’s digital transformation is an excellent example of public sector implementation of technology. For a resource stressed country with increasing social and economic challenges, such developments can do wonders in governance.
Building these blocks is essential for a holistic technology introduction in our private and public sectors. This cannot happen overnight. Strong political will and ownership, and policy continuity must drive these. These have been suspiciously missing in the digital and technology arenas. They are unlikely to be available in the current political climate and foreseeable future. But we need them to self-regulate our market. Continuing in the current manner is not conducive for Pakistan’s broader domestic, political and social governance, and commercial interests. Thus, the question arises as to who can drive this much-needed reform if the domestic stakeholders are not keen on it?
There is another hope in the form of our international friends and multilateral donors that regularly assist us in our policy and infrastructure developments. The Asian Development Bank, for example is already pursuing an Automated Metering Infrastructure (smart-meters) project for two DISCOS. We can hope these countries and multilateral partners see the value of investments in digital technology policy and regulatory spheres in Pakistan as an opportunity to address many of its chronic governance and social challenges.
AI is already around us and inevitable. Pakistan can either take control of future developments or continue with the current hybrid model that offers it no regulatory control or commercial value.
This was my motivation to write these lines.
Modern AI, in a nutshell is, complex analytical algorithms that seek to emulate human intelligence. Large volumes of data fuel its various applications. Today’s global AI leaders like Google, Amazon Microsoft and AliBaba have access to vast amounts of structured and unstructured longitudinal data that is being collected across the globe every hour and day. This data is the political and commercial gold of today’s information age. The regulatory struggles of Huawei and TikTok we see in the western markets or the Chinese restrictions on Google and Facebook exemplify the political brinkmanship for this data.
In recent weeks, Elon Musk and other experts have urged for a pause in further AI development, and spoke of its risks to human civilization. There are concerns that modern AI renditions on well established historic, religious and cultural facts can potentially disturb the present global order. There is also a possibility of AI being used in the modern political and armed conflicts. Other social and ethical concerns are located around generic AI applications being influenced by source bias. Then there are privacy and safety concerns if such capabilities land in the hands of either authoritarian states or criminals. Lastly, there are risks of deliberate misinformation or political prejudices seeping into different AI applications and subsequent human decision-making processes.
For the countries in the global south, these calls and worries are a far cry from their reality. These countries, including ours, have historically been client states to the technology prowess of their global power partners or other technology leaders. In a majority of cases, these countries have no legal and regulatory purview, or access to the data collected by global technology leaders in their jurisdictions. But this shouldn’t be the case for us, a country with one of the largest connected populations and a literal green field for such opportunities.
Our stubborn experimentation with statutes like PECA 2016 is our Achilles’ heel and so far, a futile exercise that is hindering engagement with global technology leaders.
Recent calls and efforts for creating Pakistan’s own AI policy are steps in the right direction. A draft is reportedly to be in works as well. However, a policy alone will be insufficient and ineffective without creating a new national philosophy and vision on technology. Our biggest challenge today is the absence of number of important building blocks in political, policy, statutory and infrastructure arenas. Local developments in all new technologies, or partnerships with foreign stakeholders cannot take commercial root without these.
In the policy and regulatory space, it is time to consider the transformation of PTA into a digital technology regulator and a unified secretariat for all digital policy developments in public and private spheres. Besides the need for significantly building its existing capacities and capabilities, it requires an expansion into new specialisms. Moreover, in the statutory arena, we need prompt strides on privacy and data protection issues. Furthermore, our stubborn experimentation with statutes like PECA 2016 is our Achilles’ heel and so far, a futile exercise that is hindering engagement with global technology leaders. We must remember that these companies are also potential technology partners for us.
It is time to consider the transformation of PTA into a digital technology regulator and a unified secretariat for all digital policy developments in public and private spheres.
These changes in the policy and statutory environments will instinctively lead to creation of new commercial interests and opportunities. In addition to these, we should open our regulatory and policy thinking to international best practices and advice. We need this learning to create our local standards and regulations for data lifecycles in different industries and sectors. This, in an ideal world, will incentivize digitization of business and public processes, which subsequently will improve public sector’s efficiencies and commercial sector’s health.
On the other hand, successful introduction of new technologies in our public sector requires overcoming rife political fragmentation, institutional silos and decentralized processes. For example, Pakistan has multiple driver licensing authorities in its length and breadth compared to UK’s one agency. Similar problems exist in education, policing, health, vehicle excise and taxation etc. They create barriers in data flows that a national AI policy cannot resolve. UAE’s digital transformation is an excellent example of public sector implementation of technology. For a resource stressed country with increasing social and economic challenges, such developments can do wonders in governance.
Building these blocks is essential for a holistic technology introduction in our private and public sectors. This cannot happen overnight. Strong political will and ownership, and policy continuity must drive these. These have been suspiciously missing in the digital and technology arenas. They are unlikely to be available in the current political climate and foreseeable future. But we need them to self-regulate our market. Continuing in the current manner is not conducive for Pakistan’s broader domestic, political and social governance, and commercial interests. Thus, the question arises as to who can drive this much-needed reform if the domestic stakeholders are not keen on it?
There is another hope in the form of our international friends and multilateral donors that regularly assist us in our policy and infrastructure developments. The Asian Development Bank, for example is already pursuing an Automated Metering Infrastructure (smart-meters) project for two DISCOS. We can hope these countries and multilateral partners see the value of investments in digital technology policy and regulatory spheres in Pakistan as an opportunity to address many of its chronic governance and social challenges.
AI is already around us and inevitable. Pakistan can either take control of future developments or continue with the current hybrid model that offers it no regulatory control or commercial value.