The foreign secretary is today expected to encourage international cooperation in managing the development of AI technologies.
In a speech that will be delivered to the UN Security Council, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will call for the formation of the “widest coalition of international actors from all sectors”.
Cleverly is currently visiting the UN in New York as the UK takes on the presidency of the Security Council for the month of July.
The focus of the foreign secretary’s visit will be on both AI and the war in Ukraine.
“We must seize these opportunities and grasp the challenges of AI – including those for international peace and security – decisively, optimistically and from a position of global unity on essential principles,” Cleverly will say.
The government is eager to establish the UK as the leading figure in the governance of AI and is set to host the first major global summit on AI safety later this year.
“The UK is home to many of the world’s trail-blazing AI developers and foremost AI safety researchers,” Cleverly will say.
“Our shared goal will be to consider the risks of AI and decide how they can be reduced through coordinated action.”
While the UK has introduced an AI regulatory white paper as part of the prime minister’s goal to become the “geographical home of global AI safety”, the reception has been mixed.
In a recent interview with UKTN, Labour MP and self-described techno-optimist Darren Jones criticised the prime minister’s plan, saying entrusting the currently unequipped regulators with this monumental new task is “not good enough”.
Last month, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) described the white paper’s safeguards as “inadequate”.