G7 AI Principles and Code of Conduct

The G7 countries agreed on AI Principles and a Code of Conduct to promote the safety and trustworthiness of AI systems. Here are key points to consider.

The G7 AI Principles and Code of Conduct (AIP&CoC) represent a significant next step in an ongoing process by governments to establish a coordinated global framework to promote the responsible and safe development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. While the AIP&CoC are voluntary, governments of the G7 will endorse them and encourage businesses and other organizations to commit to them.

The G7 “Hiroshima Process” that produced the AIP&CoC is part of a growing set of international efforts to establish frameworks for the governance of AI. They build on the 2019 OECD AI Principles, that were also adopted by the G20, and are meant to provide a common reference point for current developments such as the US Executive Order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy AI, Canada Bill C-27 AI & Data Act, as well as feeding into global efforts such as the UK hosted AI Safety Summit, the Council of Europe Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law and the UN Global Digital Compact. For the EU, the G7 AIP&CoC will complement the legally binding rules that are currently being negotiated under the EU AI Act.

Of note in the AIP&CoC is that they establish a firm commitment by the G7 to a set of key aspects of AI governance. These include a risk-based approach that is applied throughout the AI lifecycle, starting with precautionary pre-deployment risk assessments and mitigation. They also recognize the need for continuous ongoing monitoring, reporting and mitigation of misuse and incidents. Among the precautionary measures, the AIP&CoC call out the need for AI developers and deployers to have in place risk management policies and procedures, and robust security controls that should include internal adversarial ‘red teaming’ exercises.

The G7’s 11 Guiding Principles: Summary

1. Take appropriate measures throughout the development of advanced AI systems, including prior to and throughout their deployment and placement on the market, to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks across the AI lifecycle.
2. Identify, report and mitigate patterns of misuse after deployment, including placement on the market.
3. Publicly report advanced AI systems’ capabilities, limitations and domains of appropriate and inappropriate use in order to help ensure sufficient and ongoing transparency, and thereby contribute to increased accountability.
4.  Work towards responsible information-sharing and reporting of incidents among organizations developing advanced AI systems, including industry, governments, civil society and academia.
5. Develop, implement, and disclose AI governance and risk management policies, grounded in a risk-based approach – including privacy policies and mitigation measures, in particular for organizations developing advanced AI systems.
6.  Invest in and implement robust security controls, including physical security, cybersecurity and insider-threat safeguards across the AI lifecycle.
7.  Develop and deploy reliable content authentication and provenance mechanisms, where technically feasible, including watermarking or other techniques to enable users to identify AI-generated content.
8. Prioritize research to mitigate societal, safety and security risks and prioritize investment in effective mitigation measures.
9. Prioritize the development of advanced AI systems to address the world’s greatest challenges, such as the climate crisis, global health and education.
10.  Advance the development and adoption of international technical standards.
11. Implement appropriate data input measures and protections for personal data and intellectual property.