Can artificial intelligence independently develop laws and conduct expert reviews of bills? Predict the legal and socio-economic consequences of their adoption? At the request of the Kazinform agency, the head of the Center for Public Legislation of the Institute of Parliamentarism under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, PhD in Law, Sholpan Saimova, discusses this topic.
Global investment in AI will exceed one trillion dollars
- As you know, in his Address to the people of Kazakhstan “Economic Course of a Fair Kazakhstan” dated September 1, 2023, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the strategic importance of digitalization and set the goal of becoming a leading country in the IT sector by introducing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The President's initiative was continued in a number of specific government programs. Thus, the AI Development Concept for 2024-2029, approved by the Government, describes in detail the current state and directions of AI implementation. The implementation of this Concept, according to the developers, will lead to the launch of a supercomputer by 2025 and an increase in the share of public services using AI to 20% by 2029. These goals are directly related to efforts to digitalize other areas of government activity.
The nationwide strategy for the implementation of AI is complemented by the efforts of specialists from the Department of Material and Technical Support of the UDP of the Republic of Kazakhstan to digitalize parliamentary activities. We are talking about reengineering business processes, as well as creating a unified E-Parlament platform with subsequent integration with the information system of government agencies.
At a recent meeting of the National Council for Science and Technology, the President once again noted that scientific and technological progress is rapidly changing the global economy and way of life, and emphasized the importance of using all opportunities to strengthen the technological, scientific and innovative sovereignty of Kazakhstan.
Experts estimate that by 2030, AI will provide up to 7% of global GDP, and by 2027, the capitalization of the global AI market will significantly exceed $400 billion. These prospects highlight the importance of countries’ efforts in developing AI.
Trends and potential
The use of AI in legislative activities is a global trend. For example, in Brazil, a law was passed entirely developed by AI, which provoked extensive debate about its role in lawmaking. These examples show that AI is already capable of performing complex tasks in lawmaking by analyzing large volumes of data and existing legislation in a short time, further highlighting the relevance and significance of integrating such technologies into legal systems at a global level.
However, it should be noted that the use of advanced digital technologies and artificial intelligence tools in the legislative process must go hand in hand with the classical tasks of the legislature.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan performs three key functions: representative, control and legislative. At the moment, digital efforts are aimed primarily at developing the representative function - namely, building interaction between the Parliament and the population through on-site meetings, digitalizing the reception of citizens and improving business processes by ensuring accessibility to the Internet resources of the Parliament, as well as the use of online platforms for video conferencing .
Meanwhile, the introduction of AI into the legislative process has significant potential, which can radically transform traditional methods of work. Full integration of AI can not only improve the quality and efficiency of legislative activity, but also significantly reduce the bureaucratic burden on deputies, freeing them from everyday routine. This will allow legislators to focus on strategic aspects of legislative development and more effectively respond to rapidly changing challenges in society.
In addition, artificial intelligence can significantly strengthen the position of Parliament when conducting data analysis, providing the development of legislation with deeply informed and reliable data. This will certainly significantly improve the quality and efficiency of the legislative process within the framework of the formula “Strong President – influential Parliament – accountable Government.”
In the book “Smart Parliaments. Data-Driven Democracy,” which has become a practical guide for legislative bodies of leading Western countries, indicates that 31 tools have been developed to date for introducing AI technology into the legislative process. The Institute of Parliamentarism is actively studying three of them:
First: the use of artificial intelligence for legal expertise. Artificial intelligence algorithms analyze large volumes of data, identify contradictions in bills, and compare them with current legislation and international standards. This improves the quality of draft legislation and helps to avoid legal mistakes, significantly saving budgetary funds allocated for the examination of laws. For example: in 2020, the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan allocated 2.4 billion tenge without VAT for the scientific anti-corruption examination of draft legal regulations, and NJSC Al-Farabi KazNU - 1.5 billion tenge.
Second: developing forecasts based on data analysis for the legal field. The use of big data and analytical tools makes it possible to provide valuable forecasts about the potential consequences of the adoption of a particular law, its impact on the economy, the social sphere and the lives of citizens. This helps legislators make more informed decisions.
Third: automation of the process of creating legislative texts. Modern technologies help to minimize manual labor and reduce the “human factor” when creating the texts of bills.
Automated systems structure bills, ensure their compliance with legal technical standards and include all the necessary legal elements, which speeds up the drafting process and improves the quality of bills.
A striking example of the ineffectiveness of the “old” approach to the legislative process can be seen in the work on the draft Water Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the initial analysis of which revealed about 70 conceptual comments, the lack of finalization of by-laws and contradictions with existing constitutional norms.
The draft Water Code of Kazakhstan is based on outdated approaches and ignores the requirements of the Constitution, without providing a clear delineation of the functions of authorized bodies and without including modern mechanisms for attracting investments for reforming the water sector. The ill-conceived structure of the Code and the duplication of rules between the Water and Environmental Codes increase legal uncertainty, hindering the effective management of water resources.
Moreover, the development of the Water Code took two years.
What tools are needed to implement artificial intelligence in the development of laws?
Currently, the Institute of Parliamentarism has formed a clear vision of the directions and tools for introducing AI into the legislative process.
At the conceptual level, the implementation of AI, the legislative process should include the following elements: development of an appropriate Strategy; prioritization; education; the implementation process itself; control.
For the full implementation of AI in the legislative process, it is necessary to create a single operator. This operator will develop, effectively implement AI tools and provide training in each area of law. Currently, the Institute has the necessary resources and is ready to act as such an operator.
A detailed discussion of these issues is planned for this year.
Risks and prospects
However, there are certain risks associated with the widespread adoption of digital technologies.
Cybersecurity issues deserve special attention. Technical access to government systems threatens the security of both the country and citizens. Kazakhstan needs to make a policy decision regarding metadata storage. Hosting data on physical servers requires significant funding, while cloud storage may not be reliable enough.
There are also technical risks associated with limited access of AI to government information systems, such as “Kadagalau” and “Torelik”, as well as the underdevelopment of the language field, which limits the ability of AI to effectively process information.
In light of the current situation, it is important to focus on a “quick wins” strategy by making visionary decisions that focus on rapid implementation and tangible results in the short term.
AI provides opportunities to transform the legislative process, able to significantly improve the accuracy of work and reduce the time it takes to draft bills. The use of AI will also allow the country's legal system to quickly adapt to changes, ensuring high quality and validity of legislative initiatives.
These possibilities are now being actively analyzed and assessed by specialists from the Parliament and the UMTO.
