Why is this important
The first AI law in Central Asia — Uzbekistan is ahead of the region in regulation. Personal data protection excludes leaks and abuse through AI. The prohibition of harming humans prevents the use of AI for surveillance, discrimination, and manipulation.
What happened
- The Senate approved the law on AI on November 1;
- Regulates the use of AI in economics, education, medicine, agriculture, and public administration;
- Prohibits harm to human health, life, and rights;
- Protection of personal data from leaks;
- The authorized body attracts investments, creates a technical base, and trains personnel;
- Uzbekistan is the leader in Central Asia in the AI readiness index (+17 points).
Key provisions of the law
- AI Definition: The law officially defines the concept of “artificial intelligence” — systems capable of analyzing data, learning, and making decisions without direct human intervention.
- Harm prohibited: AI systems must not harm a person, their health, life, freedom, honor, dignity, or other rights. The use of AI for surveillance, discrimination, and manipulation is prohibited.
- Personal Data Protection: AI must not disseminate personal data without the owner’s consent through media and the internet. Protection from leaks, breaches, and abuses.
- Rules of use: general norms for creating information systems with artificial intelligence — transparency of algorithms, clarity of solutions, responsibility of developers.
Functions of the authorized body
- Attracting investments: creating conditions for investing in AI — benefits, grants, venture funds.
- Technical base: formation of infrastructure for processing data of government agencies with artificial intelligence — data centers, supercomputers, cloud platforms.
- Training of personnel: training of AI specialists — universities, courses, internships abroad.
30+ pilot projects
- State services: automation through AI — processing of applications, issuance of certificates, analysis of appeals.
- Finance: credit scoring, fraud detection, risk forecasting.
- Transport: smart traffic lights, traffic analysis, driverless cars.
- Medicine: diagnosing diseases through image analysis, predicting epidemics.
- Agriculture: yield forecasting, irrigation optimization, plant disease detection.
Growth in the readiness index
Uzbekistan improved its position in the International AI Readiness Index by 17 points in a year, becoming the leader in Central Asia. The index assesses infrastructure, personnel, legal framework, and investments.
Concerns of the senators
Senator Komila Karamova: Youth’s excessive dependence on AI weakens independent thinking. Students use AI for coursework and tests without critical analysis.
Digital Ministry’s response: Deputy Minister Rustam Karimjonov — AI as an assistant, not a basis for decisions. Raising digital literacy, teaching AI ethics in schools is a priority.
Global AI market
By 2030, the global AI volume in the global economy could exceed $20 trillion. Uzbekistan seeks to seize the share through the development of personnel, infrastructure, and legal framework.
Context
- Strategy until 2030: approved for the development of AI — investments, infrastructure, personnel, legal framework.
- The first law in the region: Uzbekistan is ahead of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan in AI regulation.
- Data protection is critical: AI analyzes millions of personal data. Leaks and abuses can lead to surveillance, discrimination, and fraud.
- AI ethics: The introduction to school textbooks will teach young people to be critical of AI, to use it as a tool, not a crutch.
