UK to host AI safety summit in November
Published: 21 August, 2023
The UK government has announced it is set to host an AI Safety Summit in November, to address the global threats to democracy posed by artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on topics such as cyber security and misinformation.
The summit will also see participation from leading academics and executives from AI companies such as Google's DeepMind, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. In light of this, Claire Trachet, CEO of business advisory, Trachet, discusses how this forum demonstrates the governmental focus on safer and more effective regulation around generative AI.
This comes following concerns raised around the UK’s stance on effective regulation after the government released an AI white paper. According to research from Ada Lovelace, there appeared to be 'significant gaps' within the UK's AI safety plan, leaving the majority of the responsibility with regulators. According to Trachet, the UK has capitalised on the economic benefits of AI – with research from Earlybird revealing that Britain houses the largest number of AI startups in Europe, with around 334 – whilst this is pleasing to see, she highlights how there remains a great need to not to lose sight of taking precautionary actions against any potential risks posed by AI.
Whilst AI continues to serve as a cause for optimism, having contributed roughly £3.7bn in value to the UK economy, as well as attracting almost £19bn in private investment through 2022, the report revealed concerns over light regulation not being able to combat growing harms and calls for an ‘expensive’ definition’ to be given to AI. This comes after a survey from the Prospect Trade Union found that 60% of respondents want the UK government to provide AI regulation in the workplace. With this in mind, Trachet explains how the forum presents an opportunity for governments and experts from around the world to come together and find an effective solution that can benefit businesses and consumers.
Claire Trachet, tech industry expert and CEO of business advisory, Trachet, highlights how this forum demonstrates the UK government highlighting the need for safer and more effective regulation around generative AI:
“Whilst generative AI continues to bring about a wave of excitement, dominating headlines and driving investment into the economy, the fast-growing nature of AI has made it difficult for governments to balance creating effective regulation, to safeguard the interest of businesses and consumers without stifling investment opportunities. Even though there are some forms of risk management and different reports coming out now, none of them are true coordinated approaches.
“However, this summit could provide governments with a greater understanding of how to approach such new technology and how they can work together to achieve their aims. It’s great to see that academics, executives within these AI tech companies, and the government are all coming together to collaborate and address issues that could lead to policy recommendations and guidelines for AI regulation.
“This will also contribute to raising more awareness about the importance of AI safety and regulation. This increased understanding from the public could also lead to governments taking a greater approach in establishing regulatory principles. Finally, the outcome of the summit could help shape global norms and standards for AI safety and regulation. As more countries begin to adopt similar regulatory approaches, it could become increasingly difficult for outliers to disregard these standards.
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