Dominican Republic approves Code of Ethics for AI in public services

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican government has approved, through Decree 787-26, a new Code of Ethics for Artificial Intelligence in Public Services, establishing guidelines for the responsible, safe, transparent and inclusive use of AI across the public sector.

The regulations, developed through a multisectoral process led by the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (Ogtic) and the General Directorate of Ethics and Governmental Integrity (Digeig), are aligned with standards promoted by UNESCO and the OECD.

The code requires high-impact AI systems that could affect citizens’ rights, access to social benefits or government sanctions to undergo ethical and rights impact assessments before deployment.

It also establishes citizens’ right to know when AI has been used in an administrative decision, request an explanation and seek human review.

Among the prohibited practices are generalized social scoring, certain forms of mass biometric identification, biased predictive criminal profiling, automated criminal sentencing and autonomous weapons. Additional protections apply to children and adolescents, while public institutions must ensure that AI suppliers provide guarantees for data security, traceability and government auditability.

The decree also creates a National Council for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence to coordinate and advise on implementation, with participation from government institutions, academia and civil society.

Public entities will have 180 calendar days to adapt their processes, register AI systems in use, appoint responsible officials and implement the measures required under the new regulations.