In his King’s Speech last month, Charles III outlined Labour’s plans to “seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”. While not quite the firm commitment to AI legislation many expected, it marks a clear shift away from the previous government’s “wait-and-see” approach.
More recently, Peter Kyle, the tech secretary, told major technology companies that the AI bill – expected later this year – would focus on making existing voluntary agreements between companies and the government legally binding. It will focus on “ChatGPT-style models” and turn the AI Safety Institute into an arm’s length government body, the Financial Times reported.
It’s a laudable goal, to be sure. But as the government embarks on this legislative journey, we must ask ourselves a fundamental question: do we even know what we’re talking about when we say “AI”?...