UK government to hold world’s first summit on AI safety in November

LONDON Aug 28: The UK government has announced the UK AI Safety Summit will be held at Bletchley Park in November, where international governments, leading AI companies and experts in research will unite for crucial talks, the British High Commission said in a press release.

The major global event will take place on November 1-2 to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action.

Frontier AI models hold enormous potential to power economic growth, drive scientific progress and wider public benefits, while also posing potential safety risks if not developed responsibly.

To be hosted at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, a significant location in the history of computer science development and once the home of British Enigma codebreaking – it will see coordinated action to agree to a set of rapid, targeted measures for furthering safety in global AI use, the release stated.

According to the release, the preparations for the summit are already in full flow, with Matt Clifford and Jonathan Black recently appointed as the Prime Minister’s Representatives.

They will spearhead talks and negotiations, as they rally leading AI nations and experts over the next three months to ensure the summit provides a platform for countries to work together on further developing a shared approach to agree to the safety measures needed to mitigate the risks of AI.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UK has long been home to the transformative technologies of the future and raised concerns over the risks of AI.

“The UK has long been home to the transformative technologies of the future, so there is no better place to host the first-ever global AI safety summit than at Bletchley Park this November. To fully embrace the extraordinary opportunities of artificial intelligence, we must grip and tackle the risks to ensure it develops safely in the years ahead,” Sunak said.

He added, “With the combined strength of our international partners, thriving AI industry and expert academic community, we can secure the rapid international action we need for the safe and responsible development of AI around the world.”

UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said that international collaboration is the cornerstone of our approach to AI regulation, and we want the summit to result in leading nations and experts agreeing on a shared approach to its safe use.

“The UK is consistently recognised as a world leader in AI and we are well placed to lead these discussions. The location of Bletchley Park as the backdrop will reaffirm our historic leadership in overseeing the development of new technologies. AI is already improving lives from new innovations in healthcare to supporting efforts to tackle climate change, and November’s summit will make sure we can all realise the technology’s huge benefits safely and securely for decades to come,” Donelan said.

Notably, the summit will also build on ongoing work at international forums including the OECD, Global Partnership on AI, Council of Europe, and the UN and standards-development organisations, as well as the recently agreed G7 Hiroshima AI Process.

“The UK boasts strong credentials as a world leader in AI. The technology employs over 50,000 people, directly supports one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities by contributing 3.7 billion euros to the economy, and is the birthplace of leading AI companies such as Google DeepMind. It has also invested more in AI safety research than any other nation, backing the creation of the Foundation Model Taskforce with an initial 100 million euros,” the release stated.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that no country will be untouched by AI and an international approach in the interconnected world.

“No country will be untouched by AI, and no country alone will solve the challenges posed by this technology. In our interconnected world, we must have an international approach. The origins of modern AI can be traced back to Bletchley Park. Now, it will also be home to the global effort to shape the responsible use of AI,” he said.

“Bletchley Park’s role in hosting the summit reflects the UK’s proud tradition of being at the frontier of new technology advancements. Since Alan Turing’s celebrated work some eight decades ago, computing and computer science have become fundamental pillars of life both in the UK and across the globe,” the release added.

Iain Standen, the CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust, expressed happiness on the development and said that they are excited to provide the stage for discussions on global safety standards
“Bletchley Park Trust is immensely privileged to have been chosen as the venue for the first major international summit on AI safety this November, and we look forward to welcoming the world to our historic site,” he said.

Standen added, “It is fitting that the very spot where leading minds harnessed emerging technologies to influence the successful outcome of World War Two will, once again, be the crucible for international coordinated action. We are incredibly excited to be providing the stage for discussions on global safety standards, which will help everyone manage and monitor the risks of artificial intelligence.”

Meanwhile, the roots of AI can be traced back to the leading minds who worked at Bletchley during the Second World War, with codebreakers Jack Good and Donald Michie among those who went on to write extensive works on the technology.

In November, it will once again take centre stage as the international community comes together to agree on important guardrails which ensure the opportunities of AI can be realised, and its risks safely managed, the release stated.

The announcement follows the UK Government allocating 13 million euros to revolutionise healthcare research through AI, unveiled last week.

The funding supports a raft of new projects including transformations to brain tumour surgeries, new approaches to treating chronic nerve pain, and a system to predict a patient’s risk of developing future health problems based on existing conditions, the release added.