Government officials have been cautioned against waiting for a situation similar to the Post Office scandal to occur before taking action to regulate artificial intelligence. This comes after the government announced that it will not hastily pass legislation regarding this technology.
On Tuesday, the government will recognize the necessity for binding regulations in monitoring the advancement of AI technology. However, these measures will not be implemented immediately. Instead, government officials will present initial ideas for future binding requirements for advanced systems and engage with experts in the fields of technology, law, and civil society to discuss them.
The government is allocating £10m to regulators to assist them in addressing risks related to AI. Additionally, they are mandating that regulators outline their strategy for handling this technology by April 30th.
The Ada Lovelace Institute, a non-affiliated organization conducting research on AI, advised the government to take action before reaching a stalemate with technology companies or facing a situation similar to the Post Office scandal.
According to Michael Birtwistle, an associate director of the institute, we cannot rely on companies to stop cooperating or for a scandal similar to the Post Office’s to occur before taking action. Waiting too long to introduce legislation could leave the UK unable to prevent AI risks or respond effectively afterwards.
The recent Horizon scandal has highlighted the potential for technology to be abused and its effects on individuals. Hundreds of post office operators were wrongly prosecuted due to a flawed IT system.
The government has chosen to utilize a voluntary method for overseeing the most advanced technology. In November, it was announced at an international AI safety conference that a collection of prominent tech companies, such as OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) and Google, have reached an agreement with the EU and ten other countries (including the US, UK, and France) to collaborate on testing their most complex AI models.
The government has reiterated its approach of utilizing existing regulators, like Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office, to oversee AI and its five key principles of safety, transparency, fairness, accountability, and competition. This was stated in their feedback to the AI regulation white paper consultation.
According to Michelle Donelan, the technology secretary, while AI is advancing quickly, humans have demonstrated that they can also keep up the pace. By adopting a flexible and industry-focused strategy, we have taken immediate action to manage potential risks, setting the groundwork for the UK to be among the pioneering nations to safely utilize AI and reap its rewards.
The government is set to announce that discussions between copyright owners and technology companies regarding the handling of copyrighted materials for the development of AI tools have not resulted in an agreement. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office, responsible for managing the country’s copyright system, had been working on creating a set of rules but was unable to reach a deal. The Financial Times was the first to report on the failed negotiations.
The inclusion of copyrighted material in the creation of AI tools like chatbots and image generators has sparked legal debates in the rapidly growing field of generative AI. This term refers to technology that uses large amounts of internet data to instantly generate realistic text, images, and audio based on user input.
Matthew Holman, a lawyer from Cripps, a UK-based law firm, stated that AI developers require clear guidelines from the UK government to ensure they can collect data and train systems without constantly facing copyright claims from numerous rights holders.
At the same time, owners of copyrights need assistance in safeguarding their valuable intellectual property, which is often being copied without authorization.
Source: theguardian.com
