AI regulation underway in Congress
ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is one of the 21st century’s most remarkable innovations. In recent years, AI has proven that it can revolutionize labor, streamline business conduct and advance the global economy. If left unregulated, however, its potential for abuses could outweigh its benefits. In the Philippines, there is currently no law specifically regulating AI. The Philippine Congress has written several bills on AI governance and the safeguarding of fundamental rights against the technology’s pitfalls. Some notable bills are discussed below.
House Bill 7396, or the Artificial Intelligence Development Act of the Philippines, was introduced on March 1, 2023. If passed into law, it will be the first Philippine legislation defining AI, expressly, as the “ability of machines or computer programs, systems or software that are designed to perform tasks that simulate human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, perception, and problem-solving.”
Although the bill does not contain specific provisions operationalizing AI regulation, it provided for the establishment of the AI Development Authority (AIDA) under the Office of the President, which shall be empowered to deploy AI regulatory strategy and security standards, develop licensing and certifications requirements for its use, and ensure compliance of AI data processing with existing laws such as the Data Privacy Act of 2012, among others.
House Bill 9425, or the Penalizing Deepfake Act, was filed on Oct. 25, 2023. It was introduced to address the misuse of a “deepfake,” which is an altered audio, visual, or audiovisual medium created and processed through technical means, often using AI, for a mistakenly yet convincingly “authentic representation of an individual’s speech or conduct.”
The bill penalizes deepfake use in contexts like cyber fraud, deceptive consumer transactions, and gender-based sexual harassment by including it as a mode of committing the crimes as defined in existing laws of concern, such as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, the Consumer Act of the Philippines, and the Safe Spaces Act, respectively. The bill also supplies conditional exceptions from liability such as when consent is given by the individual depicted in the deepfake, or it serves legitimate artistic or legal purposes. It punishes deepfakerelated offenses one degree higher than the penalty prescribed under the referenced laws.
House Bill 10567, or the Deepfake Accountability and Transparency Act, filed on July 1, 2024, sets disclosure requirements for any individual using AI to produce or distribute deepfake, with intent to do so over the internet, or knowledge of such distribution. Essentially, the disclosure requirements require the individual to clearly or visibly identify and show such facts of alteration in the specific media. Knowingly failing to comply, or in any way altering or removing such disclosure, results in fines ranging from P2 million to P5 million.
Although minimal coverage of AI can arguably be nuanced from existing laws such as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the Intellectual Property Code, these remain insufficient to cover the whole range of AI activities and uses. Given the complexities in navigating the evolving technology and the need to build a robust infrastructure to counter its unfavorable consequences, the passage of the above bills is much welcome.
Elaisha Nelle C. Espinosa is an associate of Mata-Perez, Tamayo & Francisco (MTF Counsel). This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. If you have any question or comment regarding this article, you may email the author at info@mtfcounsel.com or visit MTF website at www.mtfcounsel.com.