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After the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Law, the draft of AI Basic Law is announced in Taiwan.

After the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Law, the draft of AI Basic Law is announced in Taiwan.

2024/09/19

Countries around the world are currently seeking to establish AI governance principles. The U.S. currently has only AI executive orders and state bills, and the European Union (EU) first AI law came into effect in August 2024. Taiwan has announced a draft of AI Basic Law for public comments on July 15, 2024, which, if passed by the Legislative Yuan, will become the world's second special legislation on AI.

Taiwan's Coming AI Basic Law - Legislative Development and Progress

With the successful conclusion of the 2024 Paris Olympics, AI technology has demonstrated its potential on the global stage, bringing new experiences to the public in varied areas, such as sport competition analysis, athlete training, and referee assisting, and showing that AI has also crossed over into the sports industry, in addition to its known applications in areas such as healthcare, finance, transportation, arts and culture fields. As AI will be apply in various industries, it may also bring new risks or impacts to individuals or society. Countries are seeking to establish guidelines and principles for AI governance.

The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which was announced to take effect in August 2024. Even in the AI pioneer, the U.S., there are currently only U.S. President’s AI Executive Orders and bills introduced by Congress or state governments.

When Taiwan President Lai announced the promotion of the Island of Artificial Intelligence, Taiwan also had a draft of the AI Basic Law announced for public comments by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) on July 15, 2024, proposing the principles of basic values for the development of AI in Taiwan.

What is the Basic Law in Taiwan?

There are 11 basic laws/acts in Taiwan, including the Fundamental Science and Technology Act, and the Ocean Basic Act, etc. A basic law/act is a legislative model of principle, progress, or guideline for a specific important matter. The AI Basic Law serves as a declaration of policy integration, reveals the government's goals and principles, and regulates the executive branch without directly regulating the people, or deriving the rights for substantive claims.

Why Taiwan need a Basic Law on Artificial Intelligence?

AI is evolving rapidly, and its applications are spreading to a wider range of areas. If all sectors and administrations have different values, there will be no way for a country to develop AI.

NSTC has announced a total of 18 articles in the draft, in Article 3 first set out 7 common principles, such as human autonomy, from the AI research and development to the final market application must comply with the basic values; and in the following provisions of Article 4 to declare that the government's 4 major promotional focuses.

The most important provision is found in Article 17, which requires that government ministries should review and adjust the functions, businesses and regulations under their scope in accordance with the Basic Law, so as to enable the executive branch to accelerate its response to the changes brought about by AI, and to share a common set of values: the promotion of innovation while taking human rights into consideration.

7 basic principles

The draft AI Basic Law in the announcement contains the following 7 basic principles:

1. Sustainable development and well-being: Social equity and environmental sustainability should be taken into account. Appropriate education and training should be provided to minimize the possible digital gap, so that people can adapt to the changes brought about by AI.

2. Human autonomy: It shall support human autonomy, respect for fundamental human rights and cultural values such as the right to personal integrity, and allow for human oversight, thereby implementing a human-based approach that upholds the rule of law and democratic values.

3. Privacy Protection and Data Governance: The privacy of personal data should be properly protected to avoid the risk of data leakage, and the principle of data minimization should be adopted; at the same time, the opening and reuse of non-sensitive data should be promoted.

4. Security and safety: In the process of AI research and development and application, security measures should be established to prevent security threats and attacks and to ensure the robustness and safety of the system.

5. Transparency and explainability: The output of AI should be appropriately disclosed or labeled to facilitate the assessment of possible risks and the understanding of the impact on related rights and interests, thereby enhancing the trustworthiness of AI.

6. Fairness and non-discrimination: In the process of AI research and development and application, the risks of bias and discrimination in algorithms should be avoided as much as possible, and should not lead to discriminatory results for specific groups.

7. Accountability: Ensure the assumption of corresponding responsibilities, including internal governance responsibilities and external social responsibilities.

4 key areas of promotion

1. Innovative Collaboration and Talent Cultivation: Ensuring the resources and talent needed for AI.

2. Risk management and application responsibility: Risks must be identified and managed before AI systems can be safely applied.

3. Protection of rights and access to data: People's basic rights, such as privacy, cannot be compromised.

4. Regulatory Adaptation and Business Review: Policies and regulations must be agile to keep pace with AI development.

The AI Basic Law is paving the way for Taiwan's future opportunities and challenges.

AI development requires sufficient resources, data and a friendly environment; to ensure the safe application of AI, it is necessary to first identify and plan for different possible risks, and the draft AI Basic Law has initially drawn a blueprint for the above innovative development and safe application.

In the future, various government ministries will need to work together to keep up with the wave of AI innovation in terms of business and legal regulations for multiple fields and industries. It is believed that Taiwan can leverage the advantages in the semiconductor industry and talent resources to gain a favorable global strategic position for the development of AI, as well as to help achieve the goal of "AI for good" to enhance the well-being of Taiwan people through a sound legal environment.

※After the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Law, the draft of AI Basic Law is announced in Taiwan.,STLI, https://stli.iii.org.tw/en/article-detail.aspx?no=105&tp=2&i=168&d=9246 (Date:2025/11/10)
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Hsu, KJ Kai-Chieh
 Legal Researcher

Release： 2024/09
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