- Leading technology entrepreneurs, prominent investors and AI specialists chair the Foundation Model Task Force.
- The task force will lead critical AI safety research and seize the exciting opportunities it presents as part of driving the safe and reliable development of foundational models.
- Modeled after the success of the Vaccines Task Force, it operates with the same agility and delegation of power and is backed by an initial £100 million government funding.
Renowned technology investor, entrepreneur and AI specialist Ian Hogarth was announced as chairman of the government’s Foundation Model Task Force, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and the Chief Technology Officer.
An AI guru, Ian has co-authored the annual report on AI advancements, State of AI, since 2018. Ian is also a visiting professor at University College London and has a strong background in technology entrepreneurship as the founder of start-up Songkick and venture capital fund Plural.
The appointment supports the government’s AI strategy and brings a wealth of experience in responsible development of this technology following the release of the AI White Paper. Ian’s strong commercial experience and his connections across the AI sector provide valuable insights for this role.
Under Ian’s leadership, the task force’s primary focus in the coming months will be advancing cutting-edge safety research in preparation for the first-ever global summit on AI safety in the UK later this year. .
The task force brings together expertise from government, industry and academia to consider the risks surrounding AI. Conduct research on AI safety to inform broader efforts to develop international guardrails such as shared safety and security standards and infrastructure that can be put in place to address risks.
The Task Force will model the success of the Vaccine Task Force and will operate with the same agility and delegated authority, allowing the Chair and the Task Force to move forward and make decisions quickly.
Foundation Model Task Force Chair Ian Hogarth said::
“British scientists and entrepreneurs have made many important contributions to the AI field, from Alan Turing to Alphafold. It set out a bold vision for the UK to strengthen the AI safety sector, which had been under-resourced until then, and offered the opportunity to chair such an important mission ahead of the first-ever global summit on AI safety in the UK. I am honored to have gotten it.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said::
“The more advances we make in artificial intelligence, the more opportunities we have to grow the economy and provide better public services.
“But with the potential to change our future, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to ensure that AI is developed safely and responsibly.
“As one of the UK’s leading technology figures, it is great to have Ian leading our dedicated task force, given the authority and agility to establish leadership in AI safety and development.
“This allows us to do things differently and move forward at the same pace and momentum to meet the challenges at hand.”
In April, the government committed its first £100m to the establishment of the Foundational Models Task Force, seizing the unique opportunity presented by cutting-edge AI systems to improve their safety and reliability.
The underlying models, including the large-scale language models that power popular new services like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Claude, are general-purpose AI systems trained on massive datasets that can be applied to tasks across the economy.
Technical Secretary Chloe Smith said::
“Our Foundation Models Task Force will lead the responsible and ethical development of cutting-edge AI solutions to help the UK use this transformative technology to enable growth and a future-proof economy. We assure you that we will be at the forefront of anything.”
“With Ian’s addition, the Task Force will strengthen UK leadership on AI and ensure that UK citizens and businesses have access to the trusted tools they need to benefit from the many opportunities artificial intelligence offers. It will be the best system to make
A task force of experts will help build UK capacity in foundational models, leveraging existing strengths such as the UK’s leadership in AI safety, research and development, to develop the unique safety capabilities offered by this type of AI. Identify and address gender issues.
The Task Force’s work is critical to seizing opportunities for AI and building public confidence in the use of AI, and will consider its own measures to ensure AI development is safe and responsible. It will complement the work already being done by the AI companies themselves. They will also provide the task force with early or priority access to models for research and safety purposes to help build better assessments and better understand the opportunities and risks of these systems. I also promised to
The global AI Safety Summit, to be held later this year, will bring together major nations, industry, and academia to consider risk assessments, explore collective research potential, and address safety and security issues. It will be an opportunity to work towards sharing standards and infrastructure.
As President Biden has pointed out, the UK is well positioned to lead the international effort on AI safety.
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