The United Kingdom (UK) Government hosted the world’s 1st global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire (UK) on November 1-2, 2023. This 2-day summit brought together Ministers and representatives from various countries, including the UK, the United States of America (USA), India, among others.
- This summit aimed to unite world leaders and prominent tech industry giants focussed on devising a comprehensive, collaborative strategy to mitigate risks and combat the misuse of AI technologies.
- The Summit also witnessed the signing of the Bletchley Declaration by 28 countries and the launching of the world’s 1st AI Safety Institute.
Note: The Republic of Korea will host a mini (virtual) AI summit within the next 6 months. France will host the next official AI Safety Summit in 2024.
About the Location of the Summit:
i.Bletchley Park is the location, where British code breakers, including Alan Turing, decoded the Nazi Germany’s Enigma cipher during World War II.
ii.Bletchley Park is home to the National Museum of Computing, hosting the largest collection of operational historical computers worldwide.
Key People:
The list of attendees also includes Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter; Kamala Harris, vice-president of USA; and Ursula von der Leyen, President of European Commission among others.
Objectives:
The first AI Safety Summit has 5 objectives:
- Ashared understanding of the risks posed by frontier AI and the need for action
- A forward process for international collaboration on frontier AI safety, including how best to support national and international frameworks
- Appropriate measures that individual organisations should take to increase frontier AI safety
- Areas for potential collaboration on AI safety research, including evaluating model capabilities and the development of new standards to support governance
- Showcase how ensuring the safe development of AI will enable AI to be used for good globally.
About the Summit:
i.The summit categorized AI risks based on their potential impacts. It identifies 2 significant categories:
- Frontier AI
- Narrow AI
ii.The term “frontier AI” refers to exceptionally powerful AI models that can execute diverse tasks.
- It delves into existing definitions, initiating proactive steps to describe the current and future landscape of AI capabilities.
ii.While the summit primarily emphasises frontier AI, it acknowledges the necessity of addressing potential risks in the utilization of AI, also known as narrow AI.
iii.This recognition highlights the significance of a holistic approach to understanding AI implications and risks. There are 2 particular categories of risk:
- Misuse risks
- Loss of control risks
Key Highlights:
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State(MoS), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship(MSDE), and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India addressed the inaugural plenary session of the ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’.
- He emphasised India’s commitment to AI with a strong focus on safety, trust, and accountability.
28 Countries including India Signed World’s 1st Agreement Called “Bletchley Declaration” on AI
Delegates from 28 nations, including India, the USA, China, and the European Union have signed the world’s 1st agreement known as the “Bletchley Declaration,” during the ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’ and pledged to cooperate, to promote the safe use of AI tools.
- With the agreement, the 28 countries agreed to work together to address the potentially “catastrophic” risks presented by rapid advances in AI.
- The declaration was named after the venue, Bletchley Park, where the AI Safety Summit was held in the UK.
About the Bletchley Declaration:
i.The declaration from the summit fulfills the crucial objective of establishing a shared agreement on the risks and opportunities associated with frontier AI technology.
ii.The declaration underscores the need for greater scientific collaboration to advance AI safety and research, emphasizing the importance of shared knowledge and expertise.
iii.It also noted the importance of AI systems in various domains of daily routine like housing, employment, transport, education, etc.
Key Focus Areas: It includes the establishment of precise evaluation metrics; the implementation of safety testing tools; and the enhancement of public sector capabilities and scientific research.
Agenda:
The Declaration set out its agenda for addressing frontier AI risk, as follows:
- Identifying AI safety risks of shared concern;
- Building respective risk-based policies across the nations.
World’s 1st AI Safety Institute Launched in UK
During the AI Safety Summit 2023, UK Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak launched the world’s 1st AI Safety Institute in the UK to examine, evaluate, and test new types of AI. The launch represents the UK’s commitment to the global initiative on AI safety testing.
- This collaborative effort was initiated following discussions among world leaders and leading companies in the field of advanced AI technologies at a session held in Bletchley Park, UK.
- The AI Safety Institute will collaborate closely with the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national center for data science and AI, to advance research in AI safety.
Note: In June 2023, London (UK) also became home to the 1st office outside the USA for OpenAI, Chat GPT’s developer.
Objective:
The UK aims to establish the most advanced AI safety measures globally, ensuring the responsible and secure use of AI for future generations.
About the AI Safety Institute:
i.The AI Safety Institute will act as a global hub on AI safety, leading vital research into the capabilities and risks of this rapid technology.
- This initiative aims to foster international collaboration on the safe development of AI technologies.
ii.Leading AI companies and nations, such as the USA, Singapore, and Google DeepMind, have already committed to collaborating with the institute.
iii.The institute will rigorously test emerging AI models both before and after their release.
- This is to identify and mitigate potential risks, from societal issues like bias and misinformation to extreme concerns such as the loss of control over AI.
Note: The AI Safety Institute will provide a permanent foundation for the UK’s Frontier AI Taskforce.
Origin of the AI Safety Institute:
The institute was born out of the Frontier AI Taskforce, which operated within a G7 government (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA, as well as the European Union).
- The task force’s mission was to assess the risks associated with cutting-edge AI models.
Leadership and Advisory Board:
i.Ian Hogarth continues as the Chair of the AI Safety Institute.
ii.An External Advisory Board, composed of industry experts spanning national security to computer science, will provide guidance and expertise.
iii.A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Institute will be recruited in due course.
Note: The UK has agreed to 2 AI partnerships with the USA AI Safety Institute and the Government of Singapore.
Recent related News:
India and the UK announced the launch of the UK-India Infrastructure Financing Bridge (UKIFB) during the 12th Round of the Ministerial Indis-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) held in New Delhi, Delhi on 11th September 2023, to secure long-term investment for vital infrastructure sectors in India.
About the United Kingdom (UK):
Prime Minister– Rishi Sunak
Capital– London
Currency– The pound sterling, or Great Britain Pound (GBP)
