国际贸易法视域下的人工智能规制——以WTO规则为视角

The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in the Context of International Trade Law:A WTO Perspective

人工智能与国际贸易之间的关系有两个面向:一方面,人工智能有可能从根本上改变国际贸易和国际商业模式;另一方面,各国通过国际贸易获得建立人工智能系统所需的投入,并通过国际贸易在全球范围内部署人工智能解决方案。作为世界上最重要的政府间贸易组织,世界贸易组织相关条款可以适用于人工智能,同时人工智能加剧了商品-服务二分法困境并在公共道德例外方面给世界贸易组织带来巨大挑战。人工智能的跨境使用存在潜在风险,政府有充分的理由监管由人工智能驱动的贸易。国际贸易制度呼吁更多的灵活性,对国际贸易法视域下的人工智能规制应遵循“志同道合成员共识”。《数字经济伙伴关系协定》等数字经济协议及世界贸易组织《技术性贸易壁垒协议》、电子商务联合声明倡议可以在人工智能规制中发挥重要作用。

The relationship between Artificial Intelligence and international trade has two dimensions:On the one hand,Artificial Intelligence has the great potential to change international trade and business models fundamentally,on the other hand,countries obtain the inputs needed to build Artificial Intelligence systems and deploy Artificial Intelligence solutions globally through international trade.There is a need to consider carefully the challenges that the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence will pose to the existing legal system of international trade.As the most important intergovernmental trade organization,the World Trade Organization plays an important role in further shaping how Artificial Intelligence is developed and deployed in international trade.Related provisions of the World Trade Organization can apply to Artificial Intelligence.Artificial Intelligence exacerbates the goods/services dichotomy dilemma and poses significant challenges to the World Trade Organization in the public morals exception.The crossborder use of artificial intelligence carries risks,as Artificial intelligence is designed for different environments and nurtured on geographically specific data.There is a strong case for governments to regulate trade driven by Artificial Intelligence.When dealing with issues related to Artificial Intelligence,the global trading system should pay more attention to local values and cultural backgrounds.Given the unique nature of challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence and the growing number of governments with dferent views on disruptive technologies,it is hard to make any progress on Artificial Intelligence regulation under the traditional"by consensus decision-making"'approach of the World Trade Organization.An alternative paradigm,shaped by an increasing number of informal rules and standards,could be explored for the future regulatory path of artificial intelligence.The alternative paradigm should be shifted from"by consensus decision-making"under the World Trade Organization to"consensus of like-minded groups"represented by the World Trade Organization Joint Statement Initiative and digital economy agreements such as the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.More specifically,a specific topic on artificial intelligence could be added to the World Trade Organization E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative negotiations and listed independently.The modular approach used in the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement may help to address some of the Artificial Intelligencerelated trade issues that World Trade Organization agreements cannot handle now,enabling the World Trade Organization to integrate more actively into the digital world.In addition,the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade,which facilitates the interoperability of Artificial Intelligence standards,could also play an important role in Artificial Intelligence regulation.