The United Kingdom is taking the lead in formulating a coherent set of policies to respond to the new challenges spawned by the sudden rise of artificial intelligence tools. UK said on Wednesday it will organize the first major global summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI) safety.
"I believe the UK is well-placed to lead and shape the conversation on this because we are very strong when it comes to AI ... And it's a topic that I, in particular, started talking about two years ago, to make sure that we are prepared," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Britain has a Great Role
Sunak insisted that Britain has a great role to play in shaping the future parameters of AI governance despite not being a member of the European Union. "This mid-size country is the only country other than the US that has brought together the three leading companies with large language models ... You would be hard-pressed to find many other countries other than the US in the western world with more expertise and talent in AI. We are the natural place to lead the conversation," he said, according to the Guardian.
Mitigating AI Risks
The summit will be hosted in the UK this autumn and it will deal with areas like. Besides providing a platform for mitigating AI risks, the summit's main aim is to bring together key countries in the field. "Breakthroughs from AI continue to improve our lives - from enabling paralysed people to walk to discovering superbug-killing antibiotics. But the development of AI is extraordinarily fast moving and this pace of change requires agile leadership. That is why the UK is taking action, because we have a global duty to ensure this technology is developed and adopted safely and responsibly," the UK government said.
Sunak insisted that no country alone can deal with the challenges created by AI. He said AI has an incredible potential to transform the lives for the better. The rime minister, however, added Butit is to be made sure that AI is developed and used in a way that is safe and secure. "No one country can do this alone. This is going to take a global effort. But with our vast expertise and commitment to an open, democratic international system, the UK will stand together with our allies to lead the way," Sunak said.
EU and US to Work Together
Earlier this month it was reported that the European Union and the United States are moving ahead with formulating a draft code of conduct on artificial intelligence. The EU has had an early start in the race to outline a legal architecture for artificial technology, but the bloc has reached across the Atlantic to get the largest economy to join the pioneering move.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken even said that the Western countries have shown a 'fierce urgency' to put in place AI regulations. Part of the reason for the haste is the outsize role of China in the emerging industry. European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who also heads the bloc's competition and digital strategy, said the draft will be completed within weeks. "We think it's really important that citizens can see that democracies can deliver," she said.
