Prime Minister calls for UK to act as global leader in AI regulations amidst rising fears

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged the UK to become a global leader in developing international regulations and guidelines around artificial intelligence, ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden next week.

Following the UK’s white paper issued earlier this year which highlighted the benefits of AI, the prime minister is rapidly changing his position as he becomes wary of the dangers and threats this piece of emerging technology could potentially cause.

Sunak is set to travel to Washington DC on the 7th and 8th of June to have meetings with the US president, members of Congress and business leaders, where officials state he will discuss the issue of AI regulation and call for the UK to play a leading role in creating global guidelines.

Last week, the PM met four top technology executives from OpenAI, Google Deep Mind and Anthropic to discuss AI regulations and is taking on board warnings from global AI experts who highlight the importance of improving regulations.

Sridhar Iyengar, Managing Director for Zoho Europe, commented: “Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be an extremely useful business tool, so it is great to see the government prioritising the creation of clear guidelines. A global approach is needed from experts and leaders in government and industry to ensure safe and ethical use of AI technology for all, and especially as technology developments are so fast moving in this space.

“Public trust must be gained for AI to be embraced and education around its benefits can help. As the economy stabilizes, AI can act as a way of boosting business growth by improving efficiencies, customer service and operations with capabilities such as customer service bots/assistants, fraud detection, data analysis, forecasting and many more.”

Rishi Sunak, prime minister, commented: “AI clearly can bring massive benefits to the economy and society, but we need to make sure this is done in a way that is safe and secure.”

“I think the UK can play a leadership role, because ultimately, we’re only going to grapple with this problem and solve it if we work together not just with the companies, but with countries around the world.”