في ظل التغييرات الواسعة والتحوّلات العميقة التي طالت وتطال كافة نواحي الحياة البشرية وغير البشرية في السنوات الأخيرة، والتي لا تزال تلقي بظلالها على مجمل العلاقات البشرية الخاصة والعامة، لم يعد السؤال عن حجم تلك التغييرات، بقدر ما أصبح السؤال عن سرعة التغييرات ووتيرتها وقدرة البشر على التعايش الطبيعي مع تلك التغييرات وانعكاساتها في المديين المنظور والمتوسط.
لا شك أن التقنية والتحوّلات الرقمية وتطبيقات الذكاء الإصطناعي هي رأس الحربة في سباق التغيير الذي تتعرّض له البشرية والمجتمعات والعلاقات الخاصة منها والعامة.
منذ بدأت تتسع دائرة استخدام تطبيقات الذكاء الإصطناعي في مختلف الأوساط، طغت على الساحة الفكرية والاجتماعية عدة قناعات تراوحت ما بين التفاؤل المفرط والتشاؤم المفرط. فمن الخوف والتوجس والترقب والقلق والانتظار، سادت كمية من التساؤلات التي كثيراً ما تنتهي بها منابر لتبدأ بها منابر أخرى وتساؤلات أخرى في منابر فكرية أو اجتماعية خلال الفترة الماضية القريبة.
فمن الخوف مما سيتسبّب به الذكاء الإصطناعي من القضاء على فرص العمل والتسبّب برفع نسب البطالة، إلى الخوف من الإجهاز على سرية المعلومات وخصوصية الثقافات وأنماط الحياة. إلى تقويض فرص الممارسة الطبيعية للحياة البشرية، كل ذلك مقابل ما يتيحه التحول الرقمي وتطبيقات الذكاء الاصطناعي من ثورة الابتكارات وريادة الأعمال والقضاء على الروتين وبطء الإجراءات والقضاء على دوائر الفساد المغلقة وضرب المصالح الضيقة، والانفتاح على الفرص والمشاريع التي كانت حتى وقت قريب حكراً على أصحاب رؤوس الأموال فحسب.
ثم جاءت موجة قوية من المطالبات بسن القوانين والتشريعات لكبح الابتكار وتنظيمها والحماية من الانفلات الذي قد يصله الذكاء الإصطناعي من مخاطر اجتماعية واقتصادية وأخلاقية. والهدف هو حماية الإنسان والمجتمع من انتهاك الخصوصية، والمساءلة والشفافية مع تحديد المسؤولية وتنظيم استخدام البيانات ومنع استخدام بيانات الناس بطريقة غير قانونية، بجانب ضمان العدالة والحياد للخوارزميات، بجانب الحفاظ على الأمن القومي ومنع استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي في الحروب الرقمية. بالإضافة إلى تشجيع الابتكار.
في المقابل، سادت موجة ممن يخيفهم أن تأتي التشريعات على حساب الابتكارات فتعوق حركة الابتكارات التي هي ملعب الشباب وريادة الأعمال أمام شح فرص العمل للكثيرين. من هنا دخل تيار الابتكارات وتيار التشريعات في سباق محتدم ربما يستمر زمناً ليس بقليل.
كان المؤتمر العربي الرابع للملكية الفكرية في الشارقة الأسبوع الماضي تحت عنوان حماية الملكية الفكرية في عصر التقنيات الرقمية، الذي نظمته المنظمة العربية للتنمية الإدارية وجامعة الشارقة والجامعة اليابانية المصرية وجمعية الإمارات للملكية الفكرية، بهدف تسليط الضوء على التحديات التي أفرزتها التقنيات الرقمية وتطبيقات الذكاء الاصطناعي وتأثيراتها على حماية الملكية الفكرية وما يتعيّن تطويره من أطر قانونية دولية ووطنية لتعزيز هذه الحماية وضمان العدالة والشفافية في استغلال المصنفات الفكرية، كان هذا المؤتمر واحداً من المنابر المهمة في رسم خارطة طريق بين عالم الابتكارات وعالم التشريعات، وقد أسعدني حضور هذا المؤتمر والمشاركة به.
كما أن المؤتمر السعودي للقانون المنعقد حالياً بنسخته الأحدث يستهدف رسم بوصلة لهذا السباق بين الابتكارات والتشريعات من خلال مواكبة التحوّلات الرقمية والتقنية والاستدامة القانونية والتشريعية وتعزيز البيئة التشريعية والاستثمارية، والمواءمة بين الممارسات القانونية واحتياجات بيئة الأعمال والاستثمار في المملكة، بجانب المساءلة والحوكمة والتميّز المهني وتبادل المعرفة والتعاون الدولي والمحلي.
السؤال الذي يدور في خلدي في هذا المناخ الماراثوني بين الابتكارات والتشريعات: إلى متى يمكن أن تبقى العلاقة تكاملية بين القوانين والأخلاقيات؟ هل يمكن أن تتآكل الأخلاقيات وينتهي دورها أمام كمية القوانين والتشريعات ونوعيتها المدفوعة بحمى الابتكارات، بعد أن بقيت العلاقة تكاملية بين القوانين والأخلاقيات لقرون من الزمن؟
عبداللطيف الضويحي
من يحسم السباق بين الابتكارات والتشريعات؟
30 سبتمبر 2025 - 00:12
|
آخر تحديث 30 سبتمبر 2025 - 00:12
تابع قناة عكاظ على الواتساب
In light of the wide-ranging changes and profound transformations that have affected and continue to affect all aspects of human and non-human life in recent years, which still cast their shadows over the entirety of private and public human relationships, the question is no longer about the magnitude of those changes, but rather about the speed of the changes, their pace, and humanity's ability to coexist naturally with those changes and their implications in the short and medium term.
There is no doubt that technology, digital transformations, and artificial intelligence applications are at the forefront of the change race that humanity, societies, and both private and public relationships are undergoing.
Since the use of artificial intelligence applications began to expand across various sectors, several convictions have dominated the intellectual and social arena, ranging from excessive optimism to excessive pessimism. From fear, apprehension, anticipation, anxiety, and waiting, a multitude of questions emerged, often concluding discussions on one platform only to initiate new discussions on another platform, whether intellectual or social, during the recent past.
From the fear of the potential job losses and rising unemployment rates caused by artificial intelligence, to concerns about the infringement of information privacy and the uniqueness of cultures and lifestyles, to undermining the natural practice of human life, all of this contrasts with what digital transformation and artificial intelligence applications offer in terms of a revolution in innovation, entrepreneurship, eliminating routine and slow procedures, dismantling closed circles of corruption, disrupting narrow interests, and opening up opportunities and projects that were, until recently, exclusive to capital owners.
Then came a strong wave of demands for enacting laws and regulations to curb innovation, organize it, and protect against the potential social, economic, and ethical risks that artificial intelligence might pose. The goal is to protect individuals and society from privacy violations, accountability, and transparency while defining responsibility, regulating data use, and preventing the illegal use of people's data, alongside ensuring fairness and neutrality in algorithms, as well as maintaining national security and preventing the use of artificial intelligence in digital warfare. Additionally, there is a push to encourage innovation.
Conversely, there has been a wave of concern among those who fear that legislation might come at the expense of innovation, hindering the movement of innovations that are the playground for youth and entrepreneurship in light of the scarcity of job opportunities for many. Thus, the innovation movement and the legislative movement have entered into a fierce race that may continue for quite some time.
The Fourth Arab Conference on Intellectual Property held in Sharjah last week, under the title "Protecting Intellectual Property in the Age of Digital Technologies," organized by the Arab Organization for Administrative Development, the University of Sharjah, the Egyptian-Japanese University, and the Emirates Intellectual Property Association, aimed to shed light on the challenges posed by digital technologies and artificial intelligence applications and their impacts on protecting intellectual property, as well as the necessary development of international and national legal frameworks to enhance this protection and ensure fairness and transparency in the exploitation of intellectual works. This conference was one of the important platforms in mapping a roadmap between the world of innovations and the world of legislations, and I was pleased to attend and participate in this conference.
Moreover, the ongoing Saudi Law Conference, in its latest edition, aims to chart a course for this race between innovations and legislations by keeping pace with digital and technological transformations, legal and legislative sustainability, enhancing the legislative and investment environment, and aligning legal practices with the needs of the business and investment environment in the Kingdom, alongside accountability, governance, professional excellence, knowledge exchange, and international and local cooperation.
The question that lingers in my mind in this marathon-like atmosphere between innovations and legislations is: How long can the relationship remain complementary between laws and ethics? Can ethics erode and lose their role in the face of the quantity and quality of laws and legislations driven by the fever of innovations, after the relationship has remained complementary between laws and ethics for centuries?
There is no doubt that technology, digital transformations, and artificial intelligence applications are at the forefront of the change race that humanity, societies, and both private and public relationships are undergoing.
Since the use of artificial intelligence applications began to expand across various sectors, several convictions have dominated the intellectual and social arena, ranging from excessive optimism to excessive pessimism. From fear, apprehension, anticipation, anxiety, and waiting, a multitude of questions emerged, often concluding discussions on one platform only to initiate new discussions on another platform, whether intellectual or social, during the recent past.
From the fear of the potential job losses and rising unemployment rates caused by artificial intelligence, to concerns about the infringement of information privacy and the uniqueness of cultures and lifestyles, to undermining the natural practice of human life, all of this contrasts with what digital transformation and artificial intelligence applications offer in terms of a revolution in innovation, entrepreneurship, eliminating routine and slow procedures, dismantling closed circles of corruption, disrupting narrow interests, and opening up opportunities and projects that were, until recently, exclusive to capital owners.
Then came a strong wave of demands for enacting laws and regulations to curb innovation, organize it, and protect against the potential social, economic, and ethical risks that artificial intelligence might pose. The goal is to protect individuals and society from privacy violations, accountability, and transparency while defining responsibility, regulating data use, and preventing the illegal use of people's data, alongside ensuring fairness and neutrality in algorithms, as well as maintaining national security and preventing the use of artificial intelligence in digital warfare. Additionally, there is a push to encourage innovation.
Conversely, there has been a wave of concern among those who fear that legislation might come at the expense of innovation, hindering the movement of innovations that are the playground for youth and entrepreneurship in light of the scarcity of job opportunities for many. Thus, the innovation movement and the legislative movement have entered into a fierce race that may continue for quite some time.
The Fourth Arab Conference on Intellectual Property held in Sharjah last week, under the title "Protecting Intellectual Property in the Age of Digital Technologies," organized by the Arab Organization for Administrative Development, the University of Sharjah, the Egyptian-Japanese University, and the Emirates Intellectual Property Association, aimed to shed light on the challenges posed by digital technologies and artificial intelligence applications and their impacts on protecting intellectual property, as well as the necessary development of international and national legal frameworks to enhance this protection and ensure fairness and transparency in the exploitation of intellectual works. This conference was one of the important platforms in mapping a roadmap between the world of innovations and the world of legislations, and I was pleased to attend and participate in this conference.
Moreover, the ongoing Saudi Law Conference, in its latest edition, aims to chart a course for this race between innovations and legislations by keeping pace with digital and technological transformations, legal and legislative sustainability, enhancing the legislative and investment environment, and aligning legal practices with the needs of the business and investment environment in the Kingdom, alongside accountability, governance, professional excellence, knowledge exchange, and international and local cooperation.
The question that lingers in my mind in this marathon-like atmosphere between innovations and legislations is: How long can the relationship remain complementary between laws and ethics? Can ethics erode and lose their role in the face of the quantity and quality of laws and legislations driven by the fever of innovations, after the relationship has remained complementary between laws and ethics for centuries?


