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Future Forum's young research fellow, In Vathanak was published in Kiripost on October 30, 2024. Check out the original article HERE, and read it below!
Imagine a robust and inclusive Cambodia where artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed, driven, and enabled various sectors. Cars are being driven by themselves with real-time traffic analysis. Waste management is revolutionised through route optimisation, waste sorting and recycling, and tracking.
AI-driven medical diagnosis is being deployed for accuracy and analysis. AI-driven crop monitoring and farming through disease detection are being deployed. AI enhances travelers' experiences through personalised recommendations, chatbot assistance and streamlined services in the tourism and business sectors. For education, students' learning and performance are improved through AI data analysis with personalised learning tailored to student’s capabilities and needs.
The transformative benefits of AI are vast and promising. For instance, the McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023 added generative AI to its new 15 tech trends, citing its potential to add 4.4 trillion in economic value by improving productivity. This could significantly impact Cambodia's economy, streamlining business products and services and fostering a digital economy and society.
However, alongside the promise of AI, experts are also aware that this technology is a double-edged sword. The rise of AI also raises concerns about how the technology’s models and systems are developed and used, especially related to the lack of transparency, issues around training data, bias and fairness, privacy violation, intellectual property infringement, security, and disinformation.
In order to be prepared for what AI can do for Cambodia, the government must also be prepared to take on the challenges this technology presents.
Status of AI in Cambodia
Cambodia’s development and adoption of AI-driven technologies are at a nascent stage. Cambodia has no national AI strategy documents, no laws and regulations, and no dedicated coordinating body to unlock AI’s potential and cope with its associated risks.
Cambodia ranks poorly in the Government AI Readiness Index 2023, a global index measuring three pillars of preparedness: the government’s strategic vision for AI governance, the technology sector, and data and infrastructure.
Cambodia comes in on this list at 145th place out of 193 countries and lagged behind most of its neighbours: Thailand (37th), Vietnam (59th) and Laos (136th). The report indicates the gaps Cambodia needs to bridge, including lack of governmental vision for implementing AI, lack of governance in terms of data protection and cybersecurity legislation, lack of maturity of technology industries, and lack of data and technological infrastructure.
An extremely comprehensive report commissioned by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI) and written by technology scholars also reached very similar conclusions about the factors holding Cambodia back from fully benefiting from AI-powered technologies.
It's clear that Cambodia must act swiftly and decisively to harness AI's potential. Immediate and concrete actions are needed to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, to foster economic growth, and to build a digital economy and society. A proactive approach will also ensure that Cambodia is well-prepared to address the complexity of AI’s associated risks and implications across different sectors.
The Possibilities of AI
Experts have taken an extremely optimistic view of the potential impact AI might have on economic growth across ASEAN. With the right approach, one report found that AI has the potential to add 10-18 percent to gross domestic product (GDP) across the region, equivalent to nearly $1 trillion by 2030, in which Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar may receive a 10 percent increase in GDP, equivalent to $41 billion in GDP from AI by 2030.
This report, however, notes that countries like Singapore and Indonesia are set to benefit more than Cambodia, which is still in the early stages of AI adoption.
While AI adoption is in its early days in Cambodia, there are a few ways the tech is already being introduced here. The Digital Government Committee of the Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications, for instance, says they have been using and trying ChatGPT for six months to facilitate daily task operations. The committee has also said they are in talks with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to make the service available in the Khmer language.
The Cambodian banking sector is also incorporating AI-driven tech into daily operations. For instance, Wing Bank launched a loan programme in late 2022, which allows qualified users to apply for instant loans of up to $50,000 without collateral.
According to a report by Kiripost, the loan involves a simplified application process, minimal documentation, and users receive their loans within two minutes. The process is powered by Scienaptic Systems Inc, an AI-powered credit decision-making platform.
But clearly, involving AI in the financial decision-making for real-life people, disbursing amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars, comes with some real risks and potential long-term challenges.
Cambodian authorities recognise these challenges. Sam Sethserey, Director General of the Department of Information and Communication Technology at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, for instance, specifically flagged data privacy, and ethical uses of large data sets as key concerns.
“Recognising that data serves as the lifeblood of digital and AI technologies, a balance must be struck between openness and security,” Sethserey told Kiripost.
Dangers of Unchecked and Unguided AI Adoption and Implications
In Cambodia, the dangers of AI have yet to be apparent. However, AI-powered fraud is on the rise in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, deepfakes which involve AI-manipulated highly realistic but fake audio and photos, were one of the top five identity fraud types in 2023 with a 1530% average increase in incidents across the region.
Vietnam had the highest increase in deepfake fraud (25.3 percent) in 2023 in the area, and the Philippines had the highest growth in deepfake cases (4900 percent) between 2022 and 2023.
AI can also be weaponised in ways that extend beyond fraud. For instance, South Korea is currently struggling with how to regulate and legislate increasingly wide-spread instances of AI deepfakes being used to perpetrate image-based sexual abuse of women and young girls.
Of particular concern when it comes to Cambodia’s unique context is the low level of digital literacy in Cambodia’s population. A report from ASEAN released earlier this year found that only 30 percent of the Cambodianpopulation have basic digital literacy skills, which could make our citizens more vulnerable to the rise of AI-powered risks.
Leap Towards Responsible AI Adoption
Having a clear understanding of AI's potential, as well as its associated risks, and lessons learned from countries and organisations around the world will allow the Cambodian government to lay out a concrete plan for responsible AI development and adoption rather than blindly following trends and falling prey to risks that could potentially set back progress.
The government must establish a strong foundation to support and prepare for responsible AI adoption and development. Such foundations are personal data protection law, cybersecurity law, and law on copyrights.
A strong and effective personal data protection law will play a crucial role in protecting citizen’s sensitive information, ensuring that no sensitive, identifying data can be used in data sets for AI for training without consent.
Cambodia’s draft personal data law does contain some of the personal data rights that are in line with international best practices, but experts worry that the legislation’s at times vague wording, and requirement for local data storage could give authorities and companies the ability to use data without consent.
AI best practices also indicate that effective cybersecurity legislation is crucial to ensure a solid regulatory foundation for AI usage. And, similarly, experts have expressed concern about vague wording and the possibility for misuse of the drafted cybersecurity bill.
Another legislative issue Cambodia should focus on in relation to AI is intellectual property law. AI, with its ability to mimic or downright copy the work of human creators raises real issues about information ownership.
For instance, the New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement due to the discovery that millions of articles owned by the paper were used to train AI chatbots without permission or compensation for the work. Stories like this show that any ecosystem that welcomes the use of AI needs a complementary policy to strengthen the enforcement of copyright laws to protect the ownership of ideas and creative outputs.
The government must assess AI across different sectors to identify potential gaps and initiate informed policy. These will determine where the country stands and its readiness for responsible and ethical AI adoption.
Many AI readiness assessment tools exist, such as UNDP’s AI Readiness Assessment (AIRA) and UNESCO’s Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM). In fact, UNESCO is gearing up to implement a readiness assessment in Cambodia to ensure the country's ethical use of AI.
A comprehensive and feasible Cambodian national AI strategy is essential to establishing a cross-sector priority for immediate actions and collective efforts throughout the ministry and institutions. Other countries in our region are also being proactive on this issue.
Thailand's national AI strategy and action plan (2022 - 2027) contains five strategies encompassing sectors: food and agriculture, health & medical, education, security and safety, energy and environment, government service, logistics and transportation, manufacturing, and trade and finance.
Similarly, Indonesia’s National AI Strategy 2020 – 2045 consists of five priorities for AI, including health services, bureaucratic reform, education & research, food security, and mobility & smart cities, and four focus areas from industrial research and innovation, infrastructure and data, talent development to ethics and policies.
Cambodia should utilise a similar approach to the EU AI Act by using the risk-based approach, which can also be applied to identify and categorize the other kind of AI that needs to be heavily regulated or prohibited. Maintaining the precise obligations of the operator, provider, and distributor is also essential to keep stakeholders in check.
Cambodia may need to establish a national AI Working Group led by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. In addition, a collaborative AI research community or organisation should be established consisting of representatives from government, industry, private sector, organisations, think tanks, and academia to help steer the development and promote responsible and ethical use of AI.
For instance, Indonesia has created the Collaborative Research and Industrial Innovation in Artificial Intelligence (KORIKA), an AI organisation built on open innovation and collaboration.
In addition, the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology could play a role in promoting research and innovation through collaboration with relevant stakeholders. Upskilling the AI workforce and providing incentives for AI start-ups will ensure the country's flourishing AI ecosystem. Allocating resources to invest in these factors will enable this ecosystem to thrive.
AI-powered applications are coming to Cambodia, whether we see them in banking, education, the service sector, or elsewhere. The government needs to be proactive in making sure this country is ready to benefit from these advances, and that people and industries are protected from misuse by an effective policy landscape.
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