Taiwan named founding member of global AI election advisory group

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has been named a founding member of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Group on Elections (AI AGE), launched Thursday by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Washington.

The group includes election officials and technology experts from countries such as Ukraine, Brazil, Indonesia and Kenya, with Taiwan the only representative from East Asia.

Audrey Tang (唐鳳), Taiwan's first digital affairs minister and current cyber ambassador, is also a founding member of the group, serving in a technologist role.

As a featured speaker at the launch event, Tang said in a pre-recorded video that, "Those in the pay of authoritarian forces are undermining electoral processes, weaponizing AI and employing our societal strengths against us."

However, Taiwan formulated its approach around "pre-bunking" and explaining manipulation tactics with "no need to resort to censorship," she said, adding that a democratic approach of "co-governing AI with the people" is the way forward.

Tang said that it is "crucial that AI is trained to serve the greater good, while unlocking our collective wisdom and building a more accountable and participatory digital society."

IFES Global Digital Democracy Advisor Lisa Poggiali told CNA after the event that Taiwan has been at the "forefront of so many interesting Digital Democracy initiatives."

She said the "Taiwan model" is "valuable" because it thinks about "ethical and human rights oriented conversation, security conversations from the beginning in the educational system."

The IFES has worked in more than 145 countries worldwide since 1987, "building resilient democracies that deliver for everyone," according to its official website.

The AI AGE will address key issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence and elections, including biometric identification, data governance, content authenticity and information integrity, according to the group's launch video.

(By Elaine Hou and Wu Kuan-hsien)

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