Peru mulls comprehensive AI framework focused on consumer safety

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Peru has signaled its intention to join the list of countries pursuing a comprehensive
artificial intelligence (AI) framework following the submission of a bill to its National Assembly.

The bill submitted to Peru’s Congress is the nation’s first attempt at reining the operations of AI developers amid rising adoption rates. Given the presence of foreign AI chatbots in the country, lawmaker Carlos Javier Zeballos Madariaga initiated the bill to the house, pushing for stringent AI rules.

Millions of Peruvians warmly welcome generative AI chatbots for improved productivity, but regulators are concerned that the untamed use of the technology may lead to several issues in the country in the long run.

The bill seeks to stifle the spread of misinformation via deepfakes, regulate AI use in financial markets, and protect consumers from harmful AI products. While the provisions of the bill capture Peru’s peculiarities, the incoming framework takes inspiration from the European Union’s AI framework.

“This bill is intended to guarantee the protection of essential rights, the privacy and security of citizens, and promote transparency, ethics, innovation and progress in the field of artificial intelligence,” read the preamble to Peru’s AI bill.

A deep dive into the bill reveals an intention to uphold data sovereignty, seeking to hold global AI developers accountable under local data privacy rules. The bill specifically provides that AI firms must abide by Peruvian legislation regardless of the location of the company’s servers.

The incoming framework alao seeks to make strict rules on auditing, requiring AI developers to make regular reports to a regulatory watchdog. Service providers are expected to secure the express consent of users before using their data to train their large language models (LLMs).

Rather than merely being an operating playbook, the bill stipulates penalties for defaults, including steep fines, prison time for principal members of erring AI companies, and other drastic sanctions.

Leaning on EU’s regulatory blueprint

The EU’s AI Act has emerged as the dominant force in global AI regulation with its pioneering provisions and “risk-based approach.” Following the region’s successful control of digital asset service providers via its Markets in Crypto Markets (MiCA) regulation, the EU is keen to replicate the same success with AI.

However, critics have argued that the EU’s playbook may stifle innovation and trigger a mass talent and capital flight to other less restrictive jurisdictions. In its defense, the EU says that rules are a healthy balance of innovation and consumer protection, designed to set the pace for a uniform regulatory framework for AI.

In order for artificial intelligence (AI) to work right within the law and thrive in the face of growing challenges, it needs to integrate an enterprise blockchain system that ensures data input quality and ownership—allowing it to keep data safe while also guaranteeing the immutability of data. Check out CoinGeek’s coverage on this emerging tech to learn more why Enterprise blockchain will be the backbone of AI.

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