The UK has signed a landmark agreement with the US on artificial intelligence. The allies are addressing safer and more responsible AI development.
Bitter Sweet AI Is Here to Stay
Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, with many positive contributions that excite our generation. However, the positives come with the negatives and their associated risks and concerns.
Generative AI has taken the world by storm with its ability to create images, videos, and texts through the input it receives. However, AI has sparked concerns that it could potentially overtake the human need for jobs and jeopardize elections.
ChatGPT was released in November 2022 and is a conversational Generative Pre-trained Transformer that is one of the most used AI applications by the general public.
AI Summit Lead to Agreement
An AI safety summit was held in Bletchley Park in November, prompting the US and UK to form a partnership based on announced commitments. The allies have reached the world’s first bilateral deal as they hope to assess and regulate the risks of frontier AI systems.
The recent agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., by UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Under the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), both nations will collaborate closely on safety evaluation, research, and guidance for AI safety.
The two bodies intend to develop a common approach to AI safety testing involving the same methods and underlying infrastructure. They plan to undergo at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model and to share critical information on posed risks and capabilities.
Co-operate to Detect Risks
The agreement hopes to cooperate with regulations regarding existential risks from new technology, such as the design of bioweapons and their use in cyber attacks.
Donelan stated, ” We’ve really got to act quickly in the next year because the next generation of (AI) models is coming out, which could be complete game-changers, and we don’t know the full capabilities that they will offer yet.”
This milestone agreement will put the UK’s newly established AI Safety Institute (AISI) and the US’s equivalent to work in which they will exchange research and collaborate on evaluating private AI models.
Britain Spending Large Amounts on AI
In February, Britain announced it would invest more than £100m to launch nine new research hubs and train AI regulators in the latest AI technology.
Some countries have already issued their AI guidelines ahead of time, such as US President Joe Biden, who issued an order targeting AI models that pose a risk to national security. China has also issued guidelines ensuring that AI doesn’t interfere with its long-standing censorship.
Many AI companies are based in the US; the UK believes they have made the right move in uniting forces, as the US has the necessary expertise. Donelan went on to say: “The fact that the United States, a great AI power, is signing this agreement with us, the United Kingdom, speaks volumes for how we are leading the way on AI safety. “
AI Defining Our Generation
US Secretary Raimondo said AI was “the defining technology of our generation.” She went on to explain that the partnership with the UK will aid both institutes’ work in analysing and understanding the risks and concerns of national security and society. The UK government-backed AISI, chaired by tech investor and entrepreneur Ian Hogarth, has started testing existing and unreleased AI models with researchers.
AISI has reviewed some of the latest generative AI models from tech groups such as Google DeepMind, Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI. These groups have volunteered to share their models.
Sunak Speaks Out
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants the institute to play a central role in recognizing and tackling the development of AI and its impact on the upcoming elections.
Donelan explained that they need to work out the need for computing infrastructure for AI, stating, “sharing our skillsets and how we can deepen our collaboration in general to get benefit for the public.”
The European Union recently introduced some of the strictest rules worldwide with the introduction of the EU AI Act. However, the UK and the US have not yet issued concrete laws to govern AI.
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The post Out of Control: UK and US Sign AI Agreement to Catch Up With EU Safeguards first appeared on Edge Media.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Melnikov Dmitriy.