World-leading innovation, more new homes and better outcomes for patients are the targets for a new blueprint for AI regulation being announced by the UK government.
At today’s Times Tech Summit, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will unveil plans to look at how companies and innovators can test new AI products in real-world conditions, with some rules and regulations temporarily relaxed under strict supervision.
Known as sandboxes, individual regulations are temporarily switched off or tweaked for a limited period of time in safe and controlled testing environments.
They would initially be set up for key sectors of the economy like healthcare, professional services, transport and the use of robotics in advanced manufacturing to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI products.
The AI Growth Lab will pilot responsible AI that can be held back by certain regulation and generate real-world evidence for the impact they can deliver. This will ramp up adoption of AI and deliver opportunities for people across the country, cutting bureaucracy that can choke innovation and supporting businesses to flourish.
An example of how this could be utilised is with housing – a typical housing development application creates up to 4,000 pages of documentation and takes as long as 18 months from submission to approval. By reviewing regulations to explore how AI could support officials, those times could be cut.
The Lab will be overseen by tech and regulatory experts and backed up by a strict licensing scheme with strong safeguards, meaning any breaches of individual agreements or the emergence of unacceptable risks would stop testing and open up users who have breached their terms to potential fines.
“To deliver national renewal, we need to overhaul the old approaches which have stifled enterprise and held back our innovators,” says Kendall.
“We want to remove the needless red tape that slows progress so we can drive growth and modernise the public services people rely on every day. This isn’t about cutting corners – it’s about fast-tracking responsible innovations that will improve lives and deliver real benefits.”
An investment of £1m is also being set aside to support the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to pilot AI-assisted tools. These would support scientific expertise and speed up drug discovery, clinical trial assessments and licensing to improve efficiency and consistency, all while keeping decisions in human hands.