AI and Autonomy in Russia Issue 25, November 8, 2021

The Artificial Intelligence in Russia newsletter features a summary of recent Russian-language reports on the Russian AI and autonomy ecosystem, divided into the following sections:

• Governance and Legal Developments
• Military and Security Developments
• Corporate and Market Developments
• Education and Training Developments
• International Collaboration
• Spotlight: Marker UGV Update

The following preview shows the first item in this issue:

1. Russian government analytical center releases AI ethics code

As discussed in past issues of AI in Russia, the Russian government analytical center, the industry organization AI Alliance, and the Ministry of Economic Development have been jointly preparing a draft AI ethics code. This voluntary code was released and signed by several organizations on October 26 in Moscow at an international conference, “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: The Beginning of Trust,” sponsored in part by the Russian government. The signatories included Sberbank, Gazprom Neft, Yandex VK, MTS, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and representatives of Skolkovo. The code will become part of the AI Federal Project.

According to the Russian government analytical center, the code, which focuses on the development and employment of AI systems, comprises 33 points that “establish the fundamental principles of life in a new reality where a human is surrounded by robots.” It is also intended to improve the public’s trust of AI systems in government and private industry. Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko noted that up to 100 companies may join the code prior to the end of the year. The implementation of the code in their practices may be challenging for large Russian corporations that already rely on AI-enabled systems for numerous functions; however, the commitment of the Russian government to this code, as well as industry’s participation in its development, suggests that this may become a norm in Russian businesses.
The code’s official website is https://www.aiethic.ru/code.