How the UK can lead international collaboration in AI

On 1-2 November, the world’s first AI Safety Summit will take place at Bletchley Park – a site made famous for its World War II code-breaking efforts. It was announced by the Prime Minister in June and follows his meeting with US President Biden in which he stressed the leading role the UK could play on international AI governance.

It comes as the UK is advancing its own plans for AI governance - which the CBI has been heavily involved in shaping. And at a time when other jurisdictions and organisations are doing the same, including the EU, the G7, UN and OECD.

Why it matters for UK businesses

AI is already helping to tackle complex societal and economic challenges, from climate change to healthcare. Effective adoption of AI in business has huge potential to boost productivity and address labour shortages. But with increased adoption comes increased concern about how the technology is deployed. And that will require greater scrutiny and, potentially, greater regulation.

The PM has said AI must be “developed and used in a way that is safe and secure” with a wide range of government departments and agencies now focused on developing aspects of AI governance in the UK – addressing issues fairness, bias, legality, risk and distributional impact.

While the outcomes of that policy work will help determine both if the UK will have a thriving AI sector and if businesses can effectively implement AI, they do not represent the whole picture for AI governance. November’s international AI Safety Summit will focus on risks associated with so-called ‘Frontier AI’ – something the government defines as “highly capable general-purpose AI models that can perform a wide variety of tasks and match or exceed the capabilities present in today’s most advanced models”.

This definition suggests that these frontier models may not pose immediate risks to the operation of business and government functions day-to-day – but they and the Summit itself remain critical to AI governance for a several reasons:

• Scale: Although unlikely, the potential harm from AI-created biological or cyber-attacks could be globally catastrophic
• Public Opinion: Societal support for day-to-day AI implementation, including by businesses, will require reassurance that significant and existential risks have been minimised.
• International Collaboration: The AI Safety Summit may represent the first steps towards integrated international cooperation and collaboration and AI governance – including working with the US, the EU and China – and therefore is also an opportunity for the UK to show global leadership on a likely central issue for the 21^st

It will be hard for UK industry to harness the full range of the opportunity of AI for industry if some of the more ‘frontier’ challenges above aren’t effectively addressed. To help secure such outcomes it’s vital that the voices of UK businesses are heard.

It’s also been rumoured that the PM may launch two new bodies at the Summit – an international advisory board on AI; and an AI safety institute, which would continue the work of this Summit through biannual events hosted around the world. Early indications that the government was seeking to launch a global regulatory body for AI have been scaled back in recent weeks.

How to get involved

Attendance at the Summit is by invite only and has been limited to around 100 attendees – largely government ministers, top mandarins, AI tech firm execs, and a small number of civil society group leaders. But you can see the programme detailing discussions and roundtables.

A Summit ‘Fringe’ will be taking place over the course of the week (30 October – 3 November) with a wide range of events organised by third parties around the Summit’s key themes. These are (mostly) open to all and a range will be livestreamed.

Events hosted directly by the Fringe will take place at the British Library with partner events held throughout the UK. Members of the CBI Technology and Innovation Transformation team will be attending many of the Fringe events and CBI members are welcome to schedule in meetings if they have staff attending.

How does the Summit link to CBI work on AI policy?

AI Governance has been a recent CBI priority with several policy papers, consultation responses and recommendations within our autumn statement submission in recent months. This will continue through our revamped pledge on innovation-enabling regulation. We will continue to use our AI and Data Protection Working Group as a key forum for developing AI policy across the CBI. Those interested in joining the Working Group or finding out more should contact Caleb Meath.