Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo announcing the new measure from the Personal Data Protection Commission at the Singapore Data Festival on July 20. Image Credit: LIANHE ZAOBAO
A separate set of voluntary guidelines released on July 20 urges AI chatbot providers to disclose information such as their systems’ capabilities, limitations, reliability and safety measures.
These are AI assistants designed for public use, ranging from general-purpose chatbots developed by frontier AI companies to specialised assistants offered by businesses such as banks, airlines, insurers and retailers.
Such chatbots are the most commonly used generative AI application for users, but many may not know the chatbots’ limitations or what happens to the data they input.
“The information usually exists. But it is scattered across terms of service, privacy notices and other documents, and is often either too simplistic or too technical for ordinary users,” said Teo.
Thus, the guidelines recommend a “chatbot information card” – akin to a medicinal product label – that provides users with key information about an AI chatbot in a single place. It can take different forms, such as a dedicated information page or a disclosure document.
Teo pointed out that medicinal product labels do not list every scientific detail but tell people the essentials of what the drug is for, how to take it, how much is recommended, the side effects to watch for and when not to use it.
“The information card is meant to work the same way. It sets out in plain language what the chatbot is for, what it is not for, how data may be handled and how users can report issues,” said Teo.
Big tech companies like Google and Meta, as well as local giants like DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Singapore Airlines and Synapxe, will be rolling out their own versions of the chatbot information cards over the next 12 months.
Source: Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited | Reproduced with permission.
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