The UK has announced it will be hosting the world’s first global AI safety summit this year, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s claims that Britain is a “global leader in AI”.
As generative AI applications like ChatGPT continue to grow in popularity, governments across the globe have been scrambling to get ahead of its rapid evolution.
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The announcement comes as Sunak and US President Joe Biden met yesterday (June 7) and today (June 8) to discuss the two countries’ stance on regulating the powerful technology.
During the meeting, Sunak fought back against questions on why a country as big as the US would listen to a “mid-sized nation” like Britain.
“That mid-size country happens to be a global leader in AI,” he said.
Sunak added: “You would be hard-pressed to find many other countries other than the US in the Western world with more expertise and talent in AI.
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By GlobalData“Historically the UK has got it right when we are trying to balance innovation with making sure the new technology is safe for society”.
The UK AI summit, which will be held in autumn, will explore the need for an international course of action to address the risks of the emerging technology.
Sunak’s stance on AI has changed dramatically since the beginning of the year. In March, the UK government released a “pro-innovation” AI white paper, which focused heavily on the technology’s benefits to society.
The paper also announced it would be splitting AI governance between existing regulators, instead of dedicating it to a specifically created regulatory body.
Sunak’s public position on AI changed in May following a myriad of calls from CEOs and experts for stronger regulation.
The PM joined other EU leaders at the G7 summit in Hiroshima to call for “guardrails” to be put in place for AI.
Earlier this week, Sunak’s technology advisor claimed that AI could be powerful enough to “kill many humans” within two years.
GlobalData is the parent company of Verdict and its sister publications.
