Regulatory oversight on artificial intelligence vital
PETALING JAYA: Artificial intelligence (AI) in the telecommunications (telecoms)space is in need of regulatory oversight to ensure that environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars in cybersecurity are upheld, say analysts.

Having attended the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s International Regulatory Conference 2024, Kenanga Research said the development of AI governance policies is essential to inspire trust and displace suspicion surrounding AI.

“Legislation and guidelines should be in place to counter cybersecurity threats to the telecoms industry and its users arising from AI.

“This includes the perpetration of online scams, proliferation of deep fakes and phishing,” it said in a report yesterday.

Kenanga Research noted that at this early juncture, only the European Union has implemented broad-based acts to regulate AI.

For other countries, to kickstart the journey of regulating AI, Kenanga Research said Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda) believes that AI providers should be transparent and forthcoming in their disclosures to highlight any risks presented by AI.

“Hence, this would result in better understanding and thus enable organisations and regulators to work towards risk-management measures in mitigating AI threats,” said the research house.

Imda is a statutory board under the Singapore Communications and Information Ministry.

Additionally, Kenanga Research said organisations and digital citizens should leverage AI as an effective tool to enhance cybersecurity.

“In other words, this involves using AI to fight AI,” it said.

Separately, Kenanga Research highlighted the sustained traction in the Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s (GSMA) efforts to develop a globally harmonised framework of principles and standards, which will result in the sustainable and ethical use of AI.

“The GSMA’s principles-based ethics framework applies a balanced approach, where it acts as a guide to ensure that AI operates within its boundaries, without restricting its normal course of development.”

Citing local mobile network operator YTL Communications Sdn Bhd as an example, Kenanga Research said the group is playing its part in shaping the future of AI in Malaysia via its upcoming YTL AI Cloud service.

“It will be powered by the Nvidia Grace Blackwell-powered DGX Cloud to accelerate the development of generative AI.

“Its AI compute power will surpass more than 300 exaflops, rendering it as one of the fastest supercomputers in the world,” said Kenanga Research, which is maintaining an “overweight” call on the telecoms sector.

“We believe that investors are less cautious on 5G as monetisation opportunities emerge from selling managed solutions and cloud offerings to enterprise clients in the immediate term.

“Furthermore, as adoption of generative AI cloud solutions gains momentum, this could emerge as an earnings growth driver for mobile operators over the longer term.”

On top of that, the research house said the looming announcement of the official 5G dual network policy directive would finally resolve uncertainty that has weighed on sector sentiment.

“We maintain our ‘overweight’ recommendation on the sector, with our top picks being Telekom Malaysia Bhd and CelcomDigi Bhd.”
Technology,AIGovernance,TelecomSecurity,CybersecurityESG,Deepfakes,SingaporeAI,5GMonetisation
Artificial intelligence (AI) in the telecommunications (telecoms)space is in need of regulatory oversight to ensure that environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars in cybersecurity are upheld, say analysts.