Conference Regulation

This fast-changing era of innovation and development has given birth to a golden age of technology. After several years of hard work and persistence, the Blockchain Island has earned itself a reputation as a haven for emerging technologies, a coveted position several countries have long been vying for.

It is well deserved; alongside the publication of a National Blockchain Strategy, the country ushered in three prominent pieces of legislation in 2018, securing a legal framework for companies looking to operate within an infrastructure that could offer support and stability – and setting the standard for other countries looking to emulate their success.

The health of Malta’s current economic success can, in part, thank the solid foundations laid down by the government to develop sectors such as finance and iGaming. This regulatory foresight has spurred the Maltese government to take the lead when it comes to establishing a strong blockchain jurisdiction. While regulation is normally known to sound the death knell for innovation, it has done the opposite for blockchain. As research can attest, block tech is at its healthiest when legislators are in the loop.

If 2018 was all about blockchain, then 2019 is going to be the year A.I. disrupts the world forever. In light of this, calls for the introduction of a regulatory framework have been gaining traction.

At the core of this lies the challenge of how best to regulate this medium, to determine which aspects can be left to ethics and which need the firm hand of regulation. There is widespread agreement however that A.I. growth is accelerating, which means fears that we may reach technological singularity are inevitably a part of the wider conversation on regulation.

For now, considerations are more firmly rooted in the practical: the issues of accountability, consumer protection, transparency, and liability for example, were all noted by Mady Delvaux in her 2017 report for the European Parliament’s Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics. Like all other technologies before it, A.I. will eventually reach a point where it gets too big for its boots. And like all other technology, it too will need to be reined in through regulation.

The eventual inevitability of humans outsourcing decision-making to technology also raises several questions about the need to create safeguards to ensure transparency. Should an A.I. that makes decisions that affect individuals, whilst engaging them in discourse, be required by law to disclose that it is a machine? And what kind of methods should be used to decide the legitimacy and proportionality of these laws?

Now that regulation is on the table, the country should start to see block tech permeate Maltese culture as the islands embrace the coming era of digital revolution. It is essential then, that the country seeks to provide a smooth ride for the sustainable implementation and development of this technological ecosystem.

As the winds of political, social and economic change move to mould industries, new technology has emerged to shape this rapidly shifting landscape. The disruptive tech can already count prominent movers and shakers of the tech and political sphere amongst its followers, with big names like John McAfee, His Highness, Sheik Khalid bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Winklevoss twins, and Scott Stornetta putting in appearances at the Malta A.I. and Blockchain Summit last year. The pace of technological change in the last few years has been rapid. Purposebuilt to engender revolution, the tech is changing - perhaps irreversibly - the way we think, live and do business. The question of just how far around the corner true artificial super intelligence is has triggered serious debate, but one thing is certain, we’re closer than ever before.

Its influence was made clear last year when the Maltese government launched a task force in collaboration with SingularityNet during the Malta A.I. and Blockchain Summit. The task force intends to implement a national strategy on A.I. –a process which will be reviewed during the Malta A.I. and Blockchain Summit 2019. The way forward, for Malta at least, is clear. A.I. has a firm foothold in the way the country intends to do business, with positive outcomes expected for the Blockchain Island’s burgeoning economy: a rising tide that lifts all boats.

The convergence of Artificial Intelligence and blockchain certainly has the power to bring a paradigm shift to an increasingly outdated technology model. While powerful in its own right, block tech isn’t without its limitations. In this respect, in association with other emerging technologies, such as A.I. and IoT are ideally positioned to become a strong ally for blockchain, particularly in areas such as privacy, security, and performance efficiency.

There is a concern however over the concentrated monopoly of control, especially the lack of public scrutiny surrounding private investment in A.I. The effect of Facebook algorithms on political debate and Google’s monopoly on search comes to mind. Investment in artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition systems and enhanced technology for recognising context and images in online communications has also drawn criticism, with Orwellian fears of censorship and control a grey cloud over the positive impact A.I. could potentially wield over the use and collection of personal data.

Take the environmental implications of mining. The energy consumption required for its smooth running can be an incredible burden, both financially and environmentally. A.I. has already shown itself capable of optimising energy usage – the result is lower energy consumption and faster, more efficient transactions. The tech can also introduce decentralised learning systems, improving on Satoshi’s idea of blockchain pruning by bringing in scalability through systems such as federated learning - a potential solution to deal with and make sense of a steadily increasing accumulation of data.

On the 23rd May, the second Malta A.I. and Blockchain Summit conference will examine the evolution and far-reaching applications of blockchain and A.I. technology as it shapes the world around us.