UK will not rush to regulate AI, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak said that the government would not “rush to regulate” AI.
He said that states should not rely on private companies “marking their own homework, as many of those working on this would themselves agree, not least because only governments can properly assess the risks of national security”.
He continued:
And only nation states have the power and legitimacy to keep their people safe.
The UK’s answer is not to rush to regulate. This is a point of principle.
We believe in innovation. It’s a hallmark of the British economy, so we will always have a presumption to encourage it, not to stifle it.
And in any case, how can we write laws that make sense for something that we don’t yet fully understand?
Key events
Steven Morris
The Ukrainian embassy in the UK has thanked the Welsh parliament for recognising the Holodomor in Ukraine in the 1930s as genocide.
Members of the Senedd backed a motion describing the Holodomor as an “act of genocide” and “a predetermined crime committed and led by Stalin and the Soviet government against the people of Ukraine”
Alun Davies, who proposed the motion, told the Senedd:
The Holodomor is a Ukrainian word that means to inflict death by hunger. Let us be in no doubt…this was genocide…
It was a deliberate policy designed to eliminate the Ukrainian rural population, who were the embodiment and spirit of Ukrainian culture and nationhood.
Mick Antoniw, Wales’ counsel general – the government’s law officer – said:
The Holodomor was an act of genocide.
The Senedd has gone further than the House of Commons in the UK, which agreed a motion earlier this year in which it said it “believes” the Holdomor was a genocide. The UK government says it is matter for a “competent court” rather than a government to make a judgement on what constitutes genocide.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the Ukrainian embassy said it was grateful to the Senedd. “It’s a significant milestone in restoring historical justice and raising awareness about the millions of innocent victims!”
We are grateful to @SeneddWales @counselgenwales for recognizing the 1932–1933 Holodomor in Ukraine as genocide committed against Ukrainians. It’s a significant milestone in restoring historical justice and raising awareness about the millions of innocent victims! pic.twitter.com/LG2hXn3xXQ
— Embassy of Ukraine to the UK (@UkrEmbLondon) October 25, 2023
Oliver Dowden suggested by-election swings are not usually replicated at general elections.
It follows heavy Conservatives losses in last week’s Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections and the prospect of another contest in Wellingborough following Peter Bone’s suspension from the Commons.
Asked on LBC whether he was nervous about his 21,000 majority in his own Hertsmere constituency, the deputy prime minister said:
You name a by-election swing that has taken place 18 months to a year before an election that has been replicated in that general election – you know that is not going to be the case.
He said it was “jumping ahead” to suggest there would be a by-election in Bone’s seat, with it dependent on the results of a recall petition.
Byelection for Peter Bone’s seat would be ‘challenging’ for Tories – Dowden
A potential by-election in Peter Bone’s Wellingborough constituency is likely to be “challenging”, the deputy prime minister said.
After MPs approved a six-week suspension against Bone for bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member, a recall petition will be held which will trigger a by-election if signed by 10% of voters in his Northamptonshire constituency.
Bone has held the seat for the Conservatives since 2005 and retained it at the last general election with a majority of 18,540.
Oliver Dowden, asked whether the Tories were concerned about the prospect of another by-election, told Sky News:
Parliament has spoken on this issue last night and I believe that Peter Bone is subject to a six-week suspension and there are further steps, so we are not in a situation right now that there is going to be a by-election.
That is up to the people of Peter Bone’s constituency, and of course any by-election for a government that has been in power for 13 years is always going to be challenging.
But if there is a by-election, and it is a very big ‘if’, then we will go out and make our case.
Asked whether the government thought it would be defeated, Dowden replied:
I’m not saying we are going to lose it at all – I’m saying that we will go out there and make our case very robustly.
Rishi Sunak said in his speech on AI and emerging technology that the government is “investing almost £1bn in a supercomputer thousands of times faster than the one you have at home”.
Rishi Sunak said the work of the UK’s new AI safety institute will be made available to the world.
The prime minister said:
We will make the work of our AI safety institute available to the world.
That’s the right thing to do morally in keeping with the UK’s historic role on the international stage, but it’s also the right thing economically, for families and businesses up and down the country.
He said this would help to attract jobs and investment that will come from the new wave of technology, boosting growth.
UK to establish AI safety institute, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak announced that the UK government was establishing the “world’s first” artificial intelligence safety institute.
The prime minister said during a speech in central London:
I can announce that we will establish the world’s first AI safety institute right here in the UK.
It will advance the world’s knowledge of AI safety and it will carefully examine, evaluate and test new types of AI so we understand what each new model is capable of, exploring all the risks from social harms like bias and misinformation, through to the most extreme risks of all.
The British people should have peace of mind that we’re developing the most advanced protections for AI of any country in the world, doing what is right and what is necessary to keep you safe.
UK will not rush to regulate AI, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak said that the government would not “rush to regulate” AI.
He said that states should not rely on private companies “marking their own homework, as many of those working on this would themselves agree, not least because only governments can properly assess the risks of national security”.
He continued:
And only nation states have the power and legitimacy to keep their people safe.
The UK’s answer is not to rush to regulate. This is a point of principle.
We believe in innovation. It’s a hallmark of the British economy, so we will always have a presumption to encourage it, not to stifle it.
And in any case, how can we write laws that make sense for something that we don’t yet fully understand?
Rishi Sunak said he wanted to be “honest” with the public about the risks of AI, as he gave a speech about the emerging technology in central London.
As the government published new assessments on artificial intelligence, he said they offered a “stark warning”.
Get this wrong and it could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons. Terrorist groups could use AI to spread fear and disruption on an even greater scale.
Criminals could exploit AI for cyber-attacks, disinformation, fraud or even child sexual abuse.
And in the most unlikely but extreme cases, there is even the risk that humanity could lose control of AI completely through the kind of AI sometimes referred to as ‘super intelligence’.
But he said that it was “not a risk that people need to be losing sleep over right now” and he did not want to be “alarmist”.
Artificial intelligence brings new dangers to society that must be addressed “head on”, the prime minister will warn on Thursday, as the government admitted it could not rule out the technology posing an existential threat.
Rishi Sunak will make the comments during his speech ahead of next week’s landmark global safety summit at Bletchley Park, the home of Britain’s second world war codebreakers, where politicians and tech executives from around the world will discuss how the technology should be regulated.
The prime minister will refer to the “new opportunities” for economic growth offered by powerful AI systems but will also acknowledge they bring “new dangers”, including risks of cybercrime, designing of bioweapons, disinformation and upheaval to jobs.
The government has also published a first-of-its-kind paper into AI’s capabilities and risks. The document outlines a number of alarming scenarios for the development of AI but says that many experts consider the risk to be very low.
Sunak will say:
The responsible thing for me to do is to address those fears head on, giving you the peace of mind that we will keep you safe, while making sure you and your children have all the opportunities for a better future that AI can bring.
Doing the right thing, not the easy thing, means being honest with people about the risks from these technologies.
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Welcome to today’s liveblog. I’m Nicola Slawson and I’m covering for Andrew Sparrow today. Do drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. I’m on [email protected] or @Nicola_Slawson on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
