‘A critical moment’: concern UK is not up to speed in acting on AI risks

Protesters from Pause AI block the entrance to Downing Street on Wednesday. Photograph: Ian Davidson/SOPA Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Protesters from Pause AI block the entrance to Downing Street on Wednesday. Photograph: Ian Davidson/SOPA Images/Shutterstock ‘A critical moment’: concern UK is not up to speed in acting on AI risks Andy Burnham’s focus on immediate domestic problems leads some to fear issue has dropped off government’s radar Towards the end of Keir Starmer’s time in office, his senior ministers, alarmed , began drawing up plans for a new AI safety law. They ordered a review of existing legislation to powers they already had, according to those briefed on the plans, and were exploring whether they could force the world’s most advanced technology companies to submit their products for safety testing before launching them. Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon call for curbs on AI at ‘pro-human’ summit In the midst of the political chaos that engulfed the former prime minister as he fought to remain in office, however, the plans fell . Now, after two weeks in which the world has been told there is a greater than 10% chance the technology could “kill all humans”, and King Charles has warned about its potentially destructive capabilities, the government’s attention has turned again to what to do about AI. Andy Burnham, Starmer’s successor in Downing Street, has said relatively little about the technology in the past, and in one of his first acts in office he scrapped the department that had been leading the legislative work. The prime minister’s focus is on more immediate domestic problems. But as he grapples with balancing his first budget and bringing down the cost of living, some fear the threat posed ’s radar. “The first duty of government is to keep people safe,” said Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP who chairs the science and technology committee. “The government’s response to an existential threat cannot be to throw its hands up in the air and say there is nothing we can do.” View image in fullscreen Chi Onwurah. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex/ShutterstockRisks v potential Britain has been at the forefront of the debate on AI safety since Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, decided to make it one of his top priorities in office. Amid worries about what super-intelligent tools could do without human involvement, Sunak convened a summit in the UK and persuaded the US, EU, Australia and China to cooperate on AI safety.