Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will address artificial intelligence fears “head-on” as the government publishes a report committing to understanding the current and future risks of frontier AI.
The government said its new report would “inform discussions” at the AI Safety Summit, set to be held in Bletchley Park next week.
The report identified the current capabilities of the most advanced AI models, developed by the likes of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Amazon-backed Anthropic, to determine the potential applications of the technology.
They include increasing productivity and automating time-draining menial tasks. It also identified the limitations and potential for improvement.
The paper drew from a variety of intelligence assessments to determine how the economic benefits of AI could be offset by an increase in security risks from threat actors.
The report then looked ahead at the greatest potential risks that could come from AI down the line, including election tampering, “contributing to systemic biases”, “inciting violence” and “exacerbating public health crises”.
To coincide with the release of the paper, the prime minister will deliver a speech, setting out the UK government’s attitude to understanding and managing the risks of AI.
“AI will bring new knowledge, new opportunities for economic growth, new advances in human capability…but it also brings new dangers and new fears,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will say.
“The responsible thing for me to do is to address those fears head-on, giving you the peace of mind that we will keep you safe, while making sure you and your children have all the opportunities for a better future that AI can bring.”
While the government has committed to a “head-on” approach understanding of the technology from policymakers remains a major hurdle in agreeing on legislation.
Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Michelle Donelan said on Tuesday that ministers “simply don’t understand the risks” despite being tasked with managing them in a talk hosted by the centre-right think tank Onward.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Treasury Sarah Olney warned UKTN in February that AI regulation was a “big challenge” for MPs who are “not AI brains”.