Malaysia's aim to be among top 20 AI nations needs collective effort, says PM

SHAH ALAM: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim calls on all parties to support and play a role in achieving Malaysia’s aspirations to be among the top 20 countries in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

For that purpose, the Prime Minister urges researchers, developers and decision-makers to work together to develop and adopt AI-related technology responsibly and ethically.

"We (the government) have agreed to help build the national AI ecosystem, especially in terms of having a centre of excellence to facilitate AI learning and research, including creating Malaysia's very own AI cloud computing system.

"At the same time, I also want to stress that human values, data protection, and the responsible use of technology are all affected and given a new meaning by this technology,” he said in his opening speech at the International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Computing, Engineering and Education Science (InvENT 2024) at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam on Monday (Aug 19).

The text of his speech text was read out by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

Anwar said that despite helping to improve the quality of life, efficiency and creativity of humans, modern and dynamic generative AI technology also has a dark side that society needs to be aware of.

The Prime Minister noted that deep fake technology, for example, is capable of eroding trust in digital reality and fundamentally changing the public's perception of reality, threatening the integrity of information and causing confusion.

As such, he said the government's general approach is to minimise risk by identifying the risks associated with the impact of AI on society and people's lives.

"However, at the same time, we also need policies and laws to avoid the issue of leakage in AI governance,” he said.

In his speech, Anwar also touched on regulatory aspects where Malaysia is now actively involved in forming digital economy cooperation at the Asean level, including the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), in addition to the Cyber Security Bill 2024 tabled last March.

He said the Personal Data Protection Department is also in the final stage of formulating the bill to amend the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 [Act 709] in addition to the national data sharing bill, which is being formulated by the National Digital Department. – Bernama