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Bangladesh is yet to introduce any specific law or legislation for the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Bangladesh. Precisely the legal framework for regulating artificial intelligence is yet to take off in Bangladesh. Nevertheless the advent of the legal framework for artificial intelligence can be grounded on the constitutional principles underpinning the right to protection of law with regard to life, liberty, body, reputation or property, freedom of thoughts and expression, and right to privacy, more specifically enshrined under articles 27, 31, 39, 40, 42 and 43 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, that also spins around the relevant provisions of statutes including the Penal Code of 1860, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act 2001, Information and Communication Technology Act 2006, Right to Information Act 2009, Pornography Control Act 2012, and Cyber Security Act 2023 that are pertinent to regulate the nuances yielded from artificial intelligence.

To address the question of ownership of AI-generated works, it may be noted that the Copyright Act 2023 and Patent Act 2023 of Bangladesh, which is a signatory of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1886, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 1883, and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1995, underpin original works and novelty and grants protection to works created by human, and the said laws do not appear to address works generated by artificial intelligence.

The ICT Division of Bangladesh working under the aegis of Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology has adopted the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2020, which appears to define Artificial Intelligence as “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems”. This instrument further appears to recognize processes that include learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions) and self-correction, and applications of expert systems, speech recognition and machine vision. To espouse the imminent challenges, outspread from artificial intelligence, Bangladesh in the said National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2020 has set seven national priority sectors, i.e. public service delivery, manufacturing, agriculture, smart mobility and transportation, skill and education, finance and trade, and health; and have identified six strategic pillars to establish a sustainable artificial intelligence ecosystem, that are (i) research and development, (ii) skilling and reskilling of AI workforce, (iii) data and digital infrastructure, (iv) ethics, data privacy, security and regulations, (v) funding and accelerating AI start-ups, and (vi) industrialization for AI technologies.

The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2020 further stresses on ethical, moral, fundamentally sound, assessable, reversible and inclusive principles to avoid unintended and harmful behavior resulting from poor designing of AI systems, and thus, it reinforces the need for a strong legal and ethical framework for implementation of artificial intelligence in all aspects.

Furthermore, the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2020 heralds for adopting comprehensive framework outlining goals, policies, and initiatives for AI development aligned with the global innovations and advancements, AI ethics guidelines/principles to provide guidance on how to develop and use AI in a responsible and ethical manner, data retention policies including the legal issues of data governance and ownership, a standardization and certification guideline to standardize and certify standard AI practices focusing on interoperability and data exchange, legal framework for ensuring data accessibility, and intellectual property framework addressing the issue of ownership of rights and regulations of AI models, AI-generated works, source code, and data, that comprehensively indicates the direction of the legal framework Bangladesh is heading towards for regulating artificial intelligence.

In 2022, Bangladesh Government has taken an initiative to transform into smart country aiming to make the country more technologically advanced and sustainable by 2041. The Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041 initiative is based on 4 pillars namely Smart Citizen, Smart Government, Smart Economy, and Smart Society, and it encompasses 15 (fifteen) thematic areas including Smart Judiciary, wherein AI takes the centre stage for materializing the Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041, as AI emerges as the key enabler and can play the most pivotal role by fostering innovation, economic prosperity, and inclusive development.

However, the Government of Bangladesh, acknowledging the transformative potential of AI and its implications for economic growth, societal progress, and national security, adopted the National Artificial Intelligence Policy, 2024 which is expected to be promulgated soon. The draft policy seeks to harness the benefits of AI, foster innovation, and ensure mitigating risks and that AI technologies serve the best interests of the citizens and the nation as a whole. This reflects and bolsters Bangladesh Government’s firm intention to embrace artificial intelligence with wisdom, ethics, and prudence, and leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence responsibly and ethically.

It is needless to mention that various sectors including the manufacturing, agriculture, start-ups, communications and technology industries in Bangladesh are using various AI technologies and tools which also spearheads the demand for introducing the legal framework for regulating AI in Bangladesh. In March 2024, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh, highlighting the importance of the impact of artificial intelligence globally and for the purpose of implementing Smart Bangladesh, has declared its plan to draft the legislation to regulate artificial intelligence by September 2024, underpinning the protection of human rights and ensuring that AI benefits various sectors of Bangladesh.