Sunak’s global AI safety summit plans ‘vague’ despite provisional autumn date
The government is yet to announce details for its global AI safety summit, which it is planning to hold in the UK later this year.
In June, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the UK’s plans to host the first major global summit on AI safety in autumn this year.
That week he also said AI has “incredible potential” but must be “developed and used in a way that is safe and secure.”
However, crucial details such as an exact date and invitee list are still missing.
Officials from four countries have urged the UK to hurry up as autumn is just around the corner, according to Politico.
“We haven’t been given much information yet and we’re getting quite close to the date now,” said one embassy official.
They said the provisional date of “early November” for the summit was “pretty vague”.
An anonymous senior European diplomat urged the UK to “step up its summit planning to ensure that substantive outcomes can be achieved”.
As the UK government tries to position the country as a science and tech superpower, the summit is designed to convene world leaders to discuss how to mitigate the risks of AI.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety this autumn.
“Our preparations and discussions with international partners are already in full flow, with Matt Clifford and Jonathan Black recently appointed as the Prime Minister’s Representatives.
“Together they’ll spearhead talks and negotiations to make sure the summit results in the development of a shared approach to mitigating the risks of AI.”
At a Chatham House event in June, following the announcement of the AI safety summit, Microsoft president Brad Smith reiterated calls for a licensing regime for artificial intelligence firms to ensure AI models are used safely.
Linda Griffin, global policy, trust and security vice president at web browser Mozilla Firefox, said the summit is a “great opportunity” for leaders to discuss how to make AI more trustworthy, but “the right voices need to be in the room”.
“This includes groups from civil society and other organisations with a track record working on trustworthy AI.
“Otherwise, we run the risk that this will turn into a photo-op and big tech companies coming up with vague, voluntary commitments for themselves”, Griffin explained.
On Wednesday the government said £400m of its £1bn net zero innovation fund will go towards 12 artificial intelligence initiatives to support the transition to green energy.
Viscount Camrose, minister for AI and intellectual property, said the projects will help to “slash emissions” and harness the “enormous potential” of AI.