Skip to content

UK govt: AI should be overseen, not regulated

robots

The UK government has said that artificial intelligence should not be regulated, but overseen.

According to a report, which was commissioned in February, an AI council should “operate as a strategic oversight group”, and guide discussions around diversity, transparency, accountability and diversity in the sector.

Additionally, the report made 18 key recommendations, which included proposals to improve access to data in a bid to spur the development of AI systems in the UK.

The report also touched on ways in which government, industry and academia could group together to improve the supply of skills, with proposals including the creation of 200 AI-dedicated PhD places at leading universities.

Maximising AI research in the UK was also on the agenda, with the report highlighting the need for universities to use “clear, accessible and where possible common policies and practices for licensing IP and forming spin-out companies”.

Culture secretary Karen Bradley said: “I want the UK to lead the way in artificial intelligence. It has the potential to improve our everyday lives – from healthcare to robots that perform dangerous tasks.

“We already have some of the best minds in the world working on artificial intelligence, and the challenge now is to build a strong partnership with industry and academia to cement our position as the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business.”

At the beginning of this year, a separate report published by the Science and Technology Committee urged the UK government to develop a strategy to help citizens deal with the social and ethical dilemmas posed by the proliferation of AI.

The government’s recommendations come after renown tech entrepreneur Elon Musk recently pushed for the proactive regulation of the technology before claiming the issue should be tackled now, before it was too late.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg retaliated saying that these types of warnings were “pretty irresponsible”.

Topics

Register for Free

Get daily updates and enjoy an ad-reduced experience.

Already have an account? Log in