UK prepares to host global leaders for 'first of its kind' gathering on AI

While the potential of AI raises many hopes, particularly for medicine, its development is seen as largely unchecked. / Photo: Reuters

The UK government will welcome foreign political leaders, tech industry figures, academics and others this week for a two-day summit billed as the first of its kind on artificial intelligence (AI).

The gathering, set to be attended by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US Vice President Kamala Harris, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will focus on growing fears about the implications of so-called frontier AI.

The most advanced generation of AI models, they have prompted concerns around everything from job losses and cyber attacks to humankind losing control of the systems they have designed.

Sunak and other leaders have increasingly joined the industry itself in arguing current knowledge and regulation of frontier AI is likely insufficient for the challenges it will pose.

"My vision, and our ultimate goal, should be to work towards a more international approach to safety where we collaborate with partners to ensure AI systems are safe before they are released," the British leader said in a speech earlier this week.

"We will push hard to agree the first ever international statement about the nature of these risks," he added, proposing the creation of an international expert panel similar to one formed for climate crisis.

London, which initiated the gathering, has insisted it is taking the lead on AI at the behest of US President Joe Biden, and because the two countries have some of the leading companies in the sector.

But it has reportedly been forced to scale back its ambitions around certain ideas, such as launching a new regulatory body, amid a perceived lack of enthusiasm.