Tech Secretary, Michelle Donelan just made a MAJOR announcement about AI safety
“I want to make sure the UK is at the forefront of reaping the benefits of this transformative technology.”
In a recent address ahead of the first ever ‘AI Safety Summit’ which will be hosted in the UK, Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan underscored her unwavering commitment to AI safety.
Emphasizing the significance of addressing key AI safety risks promptly, Donelan asserted that the first country to do so would be able to fully exploit the immense potential offered by AI technologies. “I want to make sure the UK is at the forefront of reaping the benefits of this transformative technology,” she said.
Speaking to the Onward think tank on Tuesday 24 October, Donelan outlined the government's proactive stance on technology, particularly in light of the upcoming AI Safety Summit, where prominent figures from across the globe and tech industry will convene to discuss the escalating impact of AI.
Donelan debunked claims that prioritizing safety was ‘excessive caution’, citing the rapid and unpredictable pace of AI development as the driving force behind the need to comprehensively grasp associated risks.
“Our approach to AI has been commended for being agile, open and innovative. But we need more research to guide our approach,” she explained", “In many cases, we simply don’t understand the risks in enough detail or certainty right now because this an emerging technology that is developing quicker than any other technology in human history.”
Michelle Donelan was appointed by Rishi Sunak
The urgency surrounding AI safety stems from concerns regarding its impact, especially concerning generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, and their potential implications for employment, education, and daily life.
“It took mankind just over a lifetime to go from the horse and cart to the space race. Yet in the last four years large language models have gone from barely being able to write a coherent sentence to now being able to pass the bar exam and medical exams and who knows what large language models have are set to hold,” said Donelan.
Recent research from the University of Sheffield highlighted how chatbot tools like ChatGPT could be manipulated to generate malicious code, raising alarms about cybersecurity threats.
A core objective of the AI Safety Summit, according to Donelan, is to establish a consensus among global leaders and tech firms regarding the risks inherent in AI technologies. Collaboration between countries, leading tech organizations, academia, and civil society will be pivotal in this endeavor, ensuring a collective understanding of the risks and fostering international cooperation in managing them. “The Global AI Safety Summit is also an opportunity to build that understanding, share learnings and establish a network globally to work together to ensure our research can keep up with this transformative emerging technology… By bringing countries, leading tech organisations, academia and civil society together, the UK will lead the international conversation on frontier AI,” she said.
Donelan also emphasized the UK's commitment to agility and innovation in its domestic AI regulations, aiming to attract and nurture smaller AI companies within its borders. “The regulatory approach set out in the White Paper is specifically designed to be flexible, support innovation and ensure that small, new and challenger AI companies can grow and succeed here in the UK.”
She asserted that safety on the technological frontier was synonymous with prosperity across the sector. As she put it, "Safety at the frontier means prosperity across the sector. We will grip the risks so that we can seize the opportunities.”
You can read Michelle Donelan’s full speech here.