Technical Standards
in Artificial Intelligence
This is the second module of the Techdiplomacy Guidebook for Standards in Artificial Intelligence
In this module, we introduce technical standards in Artificial Intelligence, how they are developed, how they relate to geopolitical competition and explain the differences between standards, ethics, principles and legislation in AI.
The module is intended for non-experts, policy-makers and decision-makers involved who wish to get acquainted with the diplomatic processes behind norms- and standard-setting for critical technologies.
Main Take - aways
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What is a technical standard?
A technical standard is “a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.”
Standards have the following characteristics:
Serve as quality assurance markers for both products and processes.
Standards do not automatically have the binding force of law unless a legislation explicitly incorporates the standard. However, they are hugely significant as products that fail to comply with a global standard may not be purchased by consumers.
Can be negotiated domestically at national standard-setting bodies (such as the Bureau of Indian Standards-BIS) or globally (at the International Standards Organisation or the International Telecommunications Union).
How do technical standards differ from principles/ethics?
Statements of principles on AI regulation or AI ethics have been in popular discourse for some time. However, they differ from technical standards in the following ways:
Principles on ethical AI are usually broad and do not contain specific technical requirements.
Unlike technical standards, they do not have specific accountability mechanisms that verify compliance.
What are standards making bodies?
Global standard-making bodies convene representatives from national standard-setting bodies, governments,and a range of experts including policy-makers, lawyers and technical experts. If used effectively, they can serve as important forums for conceptualizing innovative and implementable tools of AI governance. At present, the main SDOs working on AI standards include:
International Organisation for Standards/International Electrotechnical Commission:
ISO/IEC have set up a Joint Committee called SC 42 with representatives from 35 national standard-setting bodies.Independent experts not affiliated with a national standards body can participate as observers and do not have voting rights.Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): Open to individuals who cannot be directly affiliated to any companies. In case of an affiliation, each company gets only one vote regardless of number of representatives. IEEE has a working group on Artificial Intelligence that has come up with a number of AI standards.International Telecommunications Union
Member states, international/regional organisations and industry can associate in this SDO that is also a UN agency. It has not yet passed any standards on AI. Instead, ITU provides e a neutral platform for government, industry and academia to build a common understanding of the capabilities of emerging AI technologies and consequent needs for technical standardisation and policy guidance.Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF):
IETF ,the body that sets standards for the internet has no formal membership. Any interested individual can participate.IETF only recognizes individuals, not institutions,countries or businesses. IETF is placing AI and machine learning (ML) in their proposals for future working groups.
How do standards relate to geopolitical competition?
Standards are important geopolitical and geo-economic tools. By pushing domestic standards through widespread and consistent participation at the global SDOs, countries like China have succeeded in strengthening their domestic private sector by reducing compliance costs for them.Standards are connected to values that countries seek to promote and often serve as a battleground between greater state control over technology on the one hand and an open rights-respecting ecosystem on the other.
Questions to help your thinking
In its foreign and international engagements policies, does your government address issues around critical technologies? If so, what does it say?
Which department or area within your government is working on critical technology issues? What’s the degree of their international engagement?
Does your government have ongoing and permanent relations with key technology stakeholders such as tech companies, or technology standards bodies such as ISO, ITU and xx. If so, what entities are that, and which ones are not in scope at the moment?
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