other authors Oliver Jones, Apprentice Lawyer
The UK Government will host the first-ever Global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park on 1st and 2nd November 2023. Once home to World War II Enigma codebreakers, including pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, the venue will host politicians, artificial intelligence (AI) companies, civil society groups, academia and industry. Experts gather. The UK Government hopes that by reaching a common understanding of the emerging risks associated with AI, delegates will be able to inform how governments and businesses manage AI.
Organizations using or licensing AI may expect the UK government to publish a response to the AI White Paper consultation and take steps to act on the summit’s conclusions. We believe that discussions at the summit could shape the UK AI regulatory landscape and, perhaps more broadly, that a piecemeal approach to regulation is insufficient to manage the emerging risks of frontier AI. As governments around the world recognize this, we expect it to have the potential to shape the AI regulatory landscape.
the purpose
The summit will focus on managing risk with the latest advances in AI. The UK government believes an “urgent international dialogue” is needed given the rapid pace of technological development.
A particular focus is on frontier AI. Frontier AI refers to general-purpose, often foundational AI models with advanced capabilities that are at the “frontier” of AI development. These models can perform a variety of tasks, matching or exceeding the capabilities present in today’s most advanced AI systems.
The summit has five main objectives, three of which are focused on frontier AI.
- A common understanding of the risks posed by frontier AI and the need for action.
- A process for advancing international cooperation on frontier AI safety, including how best to support national and international frameworks.
- Appropriate steps individual organizations should take to make Frontier AI more secure.
- Potential areas for collaboration on AI safety research, including the development of new standards to support model functionality evaluation and governance.and
- Learn how ensuring the safe development of AI can enable it to be used for good around the world.
The UK Government also published a discussion paper on the capabilities and risks of frontier AI to support discussions at the summit.
agenda
- First day – The summit will begin with opening remarks from the UK Government, other countries at the forefront of AI development, and the UK’s Frontier AI Taskforce. Participants will then depart for a roundtable discussion on understanding and improving frontier AI risks. The day will conclude with a panel discussion titled “AI for Good – AI for the next generation.”
- the 2nd day – The UK Prime Minister convened a small group of governments, businesses and experts to discuss what steps can be taken to address the risks of emerging AI technologies and ensure they are used as a force for good. We are planning to discuss whether this is possible. At the same time, Michelle Donnellan, UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, will reconvene international stakeholders to agree next steps.
Explanation
Although the summit is small, with a guest list of just 100 people, it is the world’s first global AI safety summit and underlines the UK government’s intention to remain at the forefront of AI development. Alongside the Summit, AI Fringe is hosting a series of events across the UK with wide participation from civil society, business, academics and the general public.
The summit follows the UK government’s launch of an AI policy paper in July 2022 and a more detailed AI white paper in March 2023. Most recently, the UK Parliament’s Interim Report on AI Governance, published on 31 August 2023, suggested that: The AI bill that will be the focus of the next King’s Speech will help, not hinder, position the UK as a leader in AI governance.
The UK government’s current proposed “pro-innovation” approach to AI regulation stands in stark contrast to the European Union’s approach, which is in the final stages of agreeing an EU-wide AI law. However, as the King’s Speech is scheduled for November 7, 2023, and the conclusions of each of the summit’s roundtables will be announced after the event, companies using or licensing AI will have to wait until the next 2 Close attention should be paid to the UK Government’s announcements this week. .