06 February 2024 , 09:00
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The government has announced a £100 million investment to prepare the country for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) and using it safely.
The government plans to spend £90 million on launching new AI research hubs across the UK. These hubs will explore responsible ways to use AI in various fields like healthcare, chemistry, and maths. This move is part of their plan to make Britain a global leader in AI.
Additionally, £19 million will be invested in 21 projects aimed at developing safe and trusted AI tools to boost productivity. A further £10 million will be used to prepare and train regulators in different sectors such as finance, healthcare, education, and telecoms. This is to ensure they are ready to address the risks and opportunities of AI.
As stated in the AI white paper published last year, the government has decided to use existing regulators to monitor AI use within their sectors instead of creating a new central regulator for this emerging technology. Ministers believe this approach is more flexible.
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan has praised the UK's approach to AI regulation, saying: "The UK's innovative approach to AI regulation has made us a world leader in both AI safety and AI development. I am personally driven by AI's potential to transform our public services and the economy for the better leading to new treatments for cruel diseases like cancer and dementia, and opening the door to advanced skills and technology that will power the British economy of the future."
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She added: "AI is moving fast, but we have shown that humans can move just as fast. By taking an agile, sector-specific approach, we have begun to grip the risks immediately, which in turn is paving the way for the UK to become one of the first countries in the world to reap the benefits of AI safely."
In addition to this, £2 million of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding will be used to support research projects aiming to define responsible AI. An extra £9 million has been pledged to the Government's International Science Partnerships Fund, which encourages collaboration between UK and US researchers on safe AI tools.
This follows the £100 million spent on launching the world's first AI Safety Institute to monitor potential dangers of new AI models. At the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park last November, major tech firms agreed to submit their new models for review before public launch, something Google confirmed it had begun doing with its latest Gemini model.
Amidst all these plans, the Government has requested Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority to publish their strategies on regulating AI by April 30. In response, Labour's shadow minister for AI Matt Rodda commented: "While it is welcome to see the Government finally setting out some information about this crucial technology, ministers are still missing a plan to introduce legislation that safely grasps the many opportunities AI presents."
He warned about how the UK is lagging behind. He added: "The United States issued an Executive Order setting out rules and regulations to keep US citizens safe and the EU is currently finalising legislation, but the UK is still lagging far behind with this white paper response being reportedly repeatedly delayed."
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