AI has the power to destabilise the world unless urgent action is taken, the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is set to warn.
He will tell the United Nations general assembly on Friday (22.09.23) the pace of development risks outstripping governments’ ability to make it safe after the technology has become one of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s obsessions.
The UK is scheduled to host a global summit to discuss AI regulation in November amid growing fears AI could eventually destroy jobs, spread disinformation and even take over the control of weapons systems.
According to the BBC, Mr Dowden will tell the United Nations general assembly in a speech in New York: “The starting gun has been fired on a globally competitive race in which individual companies as well as countries will strive to push the boundaries as far and fast as possible.
“At the moment, global regulation is falling behind current advances.”
In the past, governments have created regulations in response to technological developments, but there are now urgent calls for rules to be made in parallel with the development of AI.
Mr Dowden will also reportedly warn against humanity becoming “trapped in debates about whether it is a tool for good or a tool for ill” as he believes it will “be a tool for both”.
Experts are warning AI can be used to generate deepfakes and con people out of their savings.
But Mr Dowden is set to focus his attention at the UN on national security concerns, which he says the technology poses.
Some working in the AI industry have said it could even pose a threat to humanity if left to develop unchecked.
Mr Dowden will say: “Tech companies must not mark their own homework, just as governments and citizens must have confidence that risks are properly mitigated.
“Indeed, a large part of this work should be about ensuring faith in the system, and only nation states can provide reassurance that the most significant national security concerns have been allayed.”
The deputy prime minister was sent to New York in place of Mr Sunak and has spent the last few days locked in meetings with fellow ministers from around the world as the UK hopes to take a leading role in developing international AI regulation.
