The PM deserves credit for attempting global leadership in a key area for the UK.26 OCT 2023
Next week, the UK will host an artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit at Bletchley Park. The run-up has been turbulent, with the summit receiving criticism for a narrow cast list and a doom-laden focus on hypothetical future risks. Gaining buy-in from world leaders has been difficult, with US vice president Kamala Harris confirming attendance only today and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen still TBC. Yet far from distancing himself from the event, prime minister Rishi Sunak has doubled down with a major speech this morning, alongside publication of a discussion paper on the capabilities and risks of “Frontier AI”. Attempting to lead the global response to AI is a bold move by Sunak – and a risky one.
Sunak wants to balance significant opportunities with significant risks
Sunak is a techno-optimist. He began his speech by setting out the opportunities AI presents, and the discussion paper claims that “the overarching risk is a loss of trust in and trustworthiness of this technology which would permanently deny us and future generations its transformative positive benefits”.
Nonetheless, the prime minister went on to list some eye-watering risks: that AI could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons; to spread fear and destruction; or to facilitate cyber-attacks, disinformation, fraud, and child sexual abuse. While counselling that there is not yet cause for alarm, he also flagged the potential risk of a superintelligence emerging that could cause humanity’s extinction.
To address these risks, Sunak announced a UK-based AI Safety Institute to help the world evaluate new types of AI and understand the risks they may pose. He also proposed – for agreement at the summit – that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) be used as a model for a global expert panel that could achieve international consensus on the state of AI science. But the prime minister also announced a package of measures to pursue potential opportunities, including a £2.5bn investment in computing power for use by businesses and researchers developing AI in the UK...
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