More than half a million people have subscribed for free access to AI models for one-year under the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s controversial ‘TH-AI Passport’ project on the first day of registration on Wednesday.
By 5pm yesterday, 532,692 people had registered via de.aipass.net website of the DES Ministry. The ministry also allows people to register domain names.
DES Minister Chaichanok Chidchob has attempted to allay concerns expressed by the Opposition that the domain registration may open an opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to create fake web sites for fraudulent purposes by assuring that the ministry has taken steps to deal with this problem.
In the registration process, the subscribers for access to AI technology must verify their identities via the ‘ThaiD’ application which may take some time. They are advised to use the government’s application because it is faster.
Chaichanok said that the DES Ministry has given top priority to the safety of the personal information of the AI users through a stipulation in the contract with the service providers forbidding them to use such information for purposes beyond safe keeping.
The DES Ministry has limited the number of users at five million. They will have free access to the use of certain AI models developed by various developers for one year, starting on August 31.
During the one-year trial period, the government will subsidise the fee, amounting to 24.70 baht per month, under the ‘pay for active user’ model, under which you only pay software or service fees for people who actually log in or use the system during a billing cycle, rather than paying for every registered account.
Subscribers beyond the five million limit will be put on the waiting list until there are any users who do not actually use the service within specific period of time.
Nitikorn Bunyakulcharoen, deputy chairman of the House sub-committee studying the development of technology and innovations, said that the panel will monitor the ‘TH-AI Passport’ project, the alleged collusion in the procurement process and the safety of personal information.
