Washington: Taiwan Digital Minister Lin Yi-jing recently visited the United States capital to engage with officials, think tanks, and leading technology companies, discussing critical issues surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. During his visit, Lin emphasized the importance of collaboration between Taiwan and the U.S. to accurately represent Taiwan's language, culture, and history in AI systems.
According to Focus Taiwan, Lin and his delegation held substantive discussions with U.S. government officials and renowned Washington-based think tanks, including the Hudson Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A primary concern was how AI models interpret Taiwan, as the government aims to ensure its identity is accurately portrayed by AI technologies that are increasingly relied upon for information globally.
Lin highlighted the transition of AI-related issues from being purely technical to becoming significant societal concerns, as many people now depend on AI for understanding the world. Taiwan is advancing its "sovereign AI" capabilities, which involve using traditional Chinese and local data to gain greater control over AI infrastructure, data, and expertise.
The discussions also addressed potential manipulation of historical narratives by "authoritarian countries," a veiled reference to China. Lin stressed the necessity for Taiwan to safeguard its data, language, and viewpoints to ensure that democratic countries like Taiwan and the U.S. are accurately understood in the evolving AI landscape.
Cybersecurity was another major topic during Lin's U.S. visit. MODA reported that Taiwan experiences approximately 2.6 million cyberattacks daily, with hackers increasingly leveraging AI to enhance the efficiency of their attacks. The Taiwanese delegation engaged in dialogue about cyber defense, threat intelligence sharing, and advanced AI applications with their American counterparts.
In meetings with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, discussions centered on using cutting-edge AI for threat analysis, vulnerability detection, and incident response. Conversations with Meta focused on preventing scams, managing AI-generated content, and improving platform governance, particularly in age and identity verification while safeguarding user privacy.
The delegation also met with Amazon to discuss satellite communications and the development of related services in Taiwan, leveraging Amazon Leo, a low-Earth orbit satellite network, to enhance Taiwan's technological infrastructure.