In 1950, Alan Turing, the talented British mathematician and code breaker, published a scientific paper. His goal, he wrote, was to address the question: “Can machines think?”
The answer is almost 12,000 words long. But it ends succinctly: “We can only see a short distance ahead,” Mr. Turing wrote, “but we see there much that needs to be done.”
More than seven decades later, that sentiment sums up the sentiment of many policymakers, researchers and technology leaders who attended the UK’s AI Security Summit on Wednesday, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes will position the country as a frontrunner in the global race to use and regulate artificial intelligence will position intelligence.
Since last year’s release of ChatGPT, a human-like chatbot that showed how the latest models evolve in powerful and unpredictable ways, governments have scrambled to address the risks posed by the rapidly evolving technology.
Future generations of AI systems could speed disease diagnosis, help combat climate change and streamline manufacturing processes, but also pose significant risks in terms of job losses, disinformation and national security. A British government report warned last week that advanced AI systems “could help malicious actors carry out cyberattacks, carry out disinformation campaigns and develop biological or chemical weapons.”
Mr Sunak promoted this week’s event, bringing together governments, businesses, researchers and civil society groups, as a chance to start developing global security standards. On Wednesday morning, the British government released a document entitled “The Bletchley Declaration”, signed by representatives of the 28 countries taking part in the event, pledging international cooperation and continued dialogue on security issues.
“Many risks arising from AI are inherently international in nature and can therefore best be addressed through international collaboration,” the statement said. “We are committed to working together in an inclusive way to ensure human-centered, trustworthy and responsible AI that is safe and supports the well-being of all.”
However, it was not possible to set concrete political goals. A second meeting is scheduled to take place in South Korea in six months and a third in France in a year.
The two-day UK summit is being held at Bletchley Park, a rural estate 50 miles north of London where Mr Turing helped crack the Enigma code used by the Nazis in World War II. The site is considered one of the birthplaces of modern computing and is a deliberate nod to the Prime Minister’s hopes that the UK could be at the heart of another world-leading initiative.
Bletchley is “impressive in that it captures a very pivotal moment in time when great leadership was required from government, but also a moment when computing took center stage,” said Ian Hogarth, a technology entrepreneur and investor, who was appointed by Mr Sunak He led the government’s task force on AI risks and helped organize the summit. “We need to come together and agree on a smart path forward.”
While Elon Musk and other technology executives sat in the audience, King Charles III gave a speech. in the opening session of a video address he recorded at Buckingham Palace before leaving for a state visit to Kenya this week, noting: “We are witnessing one of the greatest technological leaps in the history of human enterprise.”
“There is a clear imperative to ensure this rapidly evolving technology remains safe and secure. And because AI does not respect international borders, this mission requires international coordination and cooperation,” the king said.
Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the meetings on behalf of the United States, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
In attendance were representatives from China, a major artificial intelligence developer that has been largely absent from many international discussions on governance, as well as delegates from governments including Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.
Wu Zhaohui, China’s vice minister for science and technology, said in a speech at the event that Beijing is ready to “strengthen dialogue and communication” with other countries on AI safety. China is developing its own global AI governance initiative, he said, adding that the technology is “unsafe, inexplicable and not transparent.”
In a speech on Friday, Mr Sunak addressed criticism he had received from China hawks within his Conservative Party over the presence of a delegation from Beijing. “Yes – we invited China,” he said. “I know there are some who say they should have been excluded. But there can be no serious strategy for AI without at least trying to include all of the world’s leading AI powers. It may not have been easy, but it was the right decision.”
With development of leading AI systems concentrated in the U.S. and a small number of other countries, some participants said regulations must take into account the technology’s global impact. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a technology minister representing India at the summit, said policy needs to be set by a “coalition of nations and not just one country against two countries.”
“By allowing innovation to take precedence over regulation, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the toxicity, misinformation and weapons we see on the internet today, represented by social media,” he said. “We certainly agree today that this is not what we should be planning for in terms of AI for the coming years.”
The conference was attended by executives from leading technology and AI companies, including Anthropic, Google DeepMind, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI and Tencent. The sending representatives also included a number of civil society groups, including Britain’s Ada Lovelace Institute and the Algorithmic Justice League, a nonprofit organization in Massachusetts.
A surprising move, Mr Sunak announced On Monday he announced that he would take part in a live interview with Mr Musk, the billionaire technology mogul, on his social media platform X after the summit ended on Thursday.
Some analysts argue that the conference will have more symbolism than substance, with a number of key political leaders absent, including President Biden, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany.
And many governments are pushing their own laws and regulations. In the United States, Mr. Biden this week announced an executive order requiring AI companies to assess national security risks before releasing their technology to the public. The European Union’s “AI law,” which could be finalized within weeks, represents a far-reaching attempt to regulate the use of the technology and protect citizens from harm. China is also cracking down on the use of AI and is censoring chatbots, among other things.
The UK, where there are many universities conducting research in artificial intelligence, has taken a more straightforward approach. The government believes existing laws and regulations are sufficient for now, while announcing a new AI Security Institute that will assess and test new models.
Mr Hogarth, whose team negotiated Early access He believed Britain could play an important role in figuring out how governments could “take advantage of these technologies and build safeguards around them.”
In his speech last week, Mr Sunak reiterated that Britain’s approach to the technology’s potential risks was “not to rush into regulation”.
“How can we write laws that make sense for something we don’t yet fully understand?” he said.