From the Pharmaceutical Industry to the AI Industry: The Regulation Transfer

Abstract

The study is devoted to the topical issue of mechanisms for regulating the development of artificial intelligence. Growing competition in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) leads to unpredictable consequences: on the one hand, new players appear who use non-standard methods of developing AI systems and strategies for promoting them on the market, which are largely beneficial to consumers, and on the other hand, ambiguous ethical conflicts arise that lead to unfair competition, violation of intellectual property rights and a policy of companies’ secrecy. The emerging dilemmas are largely related to the unregulated nature of the AI sphere, the absence of universal legal norms, common moral standards, principles and rules, and finally, the dramatic struggle for dominance between states, their coalitions and ideologies. The article examines the pressing issues of “the race for priority and dominance” in the field of AI: trust, honesty, respect for different ideologies, human rights and sovereignty of states. Given the youth of the AI industry and the absence or inconsistency of many mechanisms of state, public and internal corporate control, researchers and practitioners can rely on ethical rules from other areas, such as pharmaceuticals. By systematically comparing the common characteristics and differences between the pharmaceutical and artificial intelligence industries, as well as on the basis of experience in regulating medicines, the paper formulates recommendations on the ethical and legal aspects of regulating AI.