UK lawmakers push for global collaboration to ensure safe AI usage in new report

Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are lending their voices to the call for stricter regulations in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector to prevent misuse by bad actors as they eye the establishment of a global coalition.

Members of parliament are urging the U.K. government to join forces with other democratic countries with similar visions against AI misuse, as stated in an interim report from the House of Commons Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee (SITC).

The report highlights that the proposed global vanguard seeks to prevent the rogue use of AI by both state and non-state actors worldwide. The concerned MPs argue that a collaborative international effort is essential due to the “borderless nature of AI” with potential allies, including the United States and the European Union.

Acutely aware of the threat posed by AI, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shares the same sentiments with plans to convene a global AI summit in November. A key objective of the summit is the establishment of uniform AI standards to limit the influence of bad actors using the technology.

The SITC report urges the government to extend invitations for the proposed AI summit to a wide range of countries to “advance a shared international understanding of the challenges of AI.”

“Given the importance of AI to our national security, there should also be a forum established for like-minded countries who share liberal, democratic values, to be able to develop an enhanced mutual protection against those actors—state and otherwise—who are enemies of these values,” read the report.

The paper also laid out 12 challenges standing in the way of proper AI governance, ranging from bias, privacy, misrepresentation, access to data and computing, and open-source challenges.

Other stumbling blocks identified in the report against AI regulation include liability, copyright issues, employment, and existential concerns.

A wave of recommendations on AI regulation has flooded the U.K. government in recent months, including one from the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee advocating for artist protection from AI developers.

The efforts of potential allies

Ahead of the proposed November summit, experts have suggested that the U.S. and the EU could be potential allies of the U.K. in the push for safe AI usage. Both jurisdictions have taken the initiative in imposing guardrails, with the EU inching toward the launch of its AI Act with requirements for clear labeling of AI-generated content.

On the other hand, the U.S. has unveiled five principles to guide future AI regulations, prioritizing data privacy and algorithmic discrimination protections. The U.S. Congress has written to AI firms seeking answers over their internal systems to crack down on AI misuse in several key sectors.

In April, U.S. regulators raised alarm over the increasing use of fake AI digital currency investment platforms, responsible for the loss of investors’ funds running into millions of dollars.