UK isn't making separate artificial intelligence (AI) regulator

The UK government rules out creating an artificial intelligence regulator in a new White Paper. Picture: Josep Lago/AFP

The UK government rules out creating an artificial intelligence regulator in a new White Paper. Picture: Josep Lago/AFP

Published Mar 30, 2023

Share

The UK government rules out creating an artificial intelligence regulator.

The growing tech – which they dubbed one of the “technologies of tomorrow” in a new government White Paper – will be monitored by existing frameworks after they revealed it brought in £3.7 billion to the country’s economy in 2022.

However, there are growing concerns that AI could threaten people’s livelihoods by making their jobs redundant or be used for malign purposes.

The phrase is used to denote computer programming that can carry out tasks typically only able to be carried out by humans.

Chatbots have become the most popular and talked about iteration of the tech like the Microsoft-backed Chat GPT and Google’s Bard, which have prompted worries about their ability not to reflect the myriad hateful opinions on the internet, spread misinformation; prompting calls for proper and robust regulation.

Michael Birtwistle, the associate director of the Ada Lovelace Institute said: “Initially, the proposals in the White Paper will lack any statutory footing. This means no new legal obligations on regulators, developers or users of AI systems, with the prospect of only a minimal duty on regulators in future.

“The UK will also struggle to effectively regulate different uses of AI across sectors without substantial investment in its existing regulators.”

Legal professionals have highlighted the “light-touch” approach of the UK compared to other nations.

Simon Elliott, a partner at the law firm Dentons told BBC News: “Numerous countries globally are developing or passing specific laws to address perceived AI risks – including algorithmic rules passed in China or the USA.”

BANG ShowBiz Tech