A new law regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be drafted by next September, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq said on Thursday.

“We think that Bangladesh should formulate a law regarding the way artificial intelligence or AI is changing the world. This matter should be thought of here in Bangladesh as it is being thought of all over the world,” he said.

The minister was talking to journalists after a meeting on AI law at the Secretariat on Thursday. State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak was also present at the meeting.

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“Experience and knowledge are needed to make laws. That’s why we sat today to think about that.”

“Today, we have decided to draft this law and it will be prepared by next September. We discussed the outline of what will be in that draft. We will work according to that outline,” he added.

He said: "We have discussed the things that should be included in this law, the things that should be protected from the point of view of humanity. That discussion has started and it will continue.”

Regarding the outline, the law minister said: "We don't want to disclose that at the moment as it is changeable. We are taking this time to observe the matter and gain experience from others.”

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Asked about the outcome of this law, Huq said: This is also a question for us as we are yet to know how much control we have. But it will be for human rights protection and the benefit of people."

State Minister Palak said, "A very timely decision has been taken by the Law Minister."

Last February, he gave me guidance on what we think about artificial intelligence and how ready we are to legislate. After that, we discussed with the information technology advisor and those who have studied artificial intelligence.

Later, "We came to the conclusion that if we want to make a smart Bangladesh, smart governance, and smart economy by 2041, we cannot bypass artificial intelligence," he added.

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