Technology chiefs ask West to gain an edge in the AI ​​race

A big tech company that just announced additional UK investment has rejected calls for a moratorium on artificial intelligence (AI) development.

Concerns about the technology have spawned new regulatory demands, and the UK is set to host a world summit this fall.

But Alex Karp, president of software company Palantir, said only companies “without a product” wanted a pause.

“The race is on. The only question is do we stay ahead or do we give up the lead?” he told the BBC.

Karp told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the West now has a significant commercial and military advantage in AI and should not give it up.

“If we slow down, the AI ​​race will not stop. No country in the world, especially our enemies, can afford this advantage for us,” he said.

“It’s a really bad strategy to research this so others can win both in the commercial area and on the battlefield.”

Karp’s comments strike a stark contrast to the recent barrage of dire warnings about the potential existential threat AI poses to humanity, and the accompanying calls to slow or halt AI development. there is

Regulators around the world are scrambling to craft new rules to limit that risk.

With the government announcing that the UK will host a global AI summit this autumn, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wants the UK to lead efforts to ensure that the benefits of AI are “used for the benefit of humanity.” rice field.

It is not yet clear who will attend the summit, but the government will “bring together major countries, major technology companies and researchers to agree on security measures to assess and monitor the most significant risks from AI.” said.

Sunak, who is currently meeting US President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., said the UK was a “natural place” to lead the conversation on AI.

Downing Street cites recent meetings between the prime minister and executives of big AI companies as proof. He also said he pointed to 50,000 people employed in the sector, worth £3.7bn to the UK.

But some question Britain’s qualifications as a leader in this field.

Yasmin Afina, a researcher at Chatham House’s Digital Society Initiative, said she didn’t think the UK “could be too ambitious in reality”.

He said there are “obvious differences in governance and regulatory approaches” between the EU and the US, which the UK will struggle to reconcile, and many existing governments, including the UN’s Global Digital Compact. The global effort “already has a stronger foundation,” he said.

Afina added that none of the world’s most pioneering AI companies are based in the UK.

He told the BBC: “Rather than trying to play a role that is too ambitious for the UK and risks alienating the UK, perhaps the UK should promote responsible behavior in the research, development and deployment of these technologies. should be focused on,” he said.

Since the chatbot ChatGPT debuted last November, interest in AI has skyrocketed, surprising people with its ability to answer complex questions in a human-like way.

The tremendous computational power of AI systems makes it possible, and it causes deep anxiety.

Two of the three godfathers of AI, Geoffrey Hinton and Professor Joshua Bengio, are among those who have warned that the technology they helped develop has enormous potential for harm. .

In May, AI industry leaders, including the heads of OpenAI and Google Deepmind, warned that AI could lead to the end of humanity.

They gave examples including the possibility that AI could be used to develop a new generation of chemical weapons.

While these warnings have raised calls for effective regulation of AI, many questions remain about what it will look like and how it will be enforced.

The European Union is working out an artificial intelligence law, but admits it will take two and a half years to come into force in the best-case scenario.

The EU’s technology chief Margrethe Vestager said last month that it was “too late”, saying she was working with the US to develop a voluntary code in the area and hoped to have one in the coming weeks. .

China has also taken a leading role in developing AI regulations, including a proposal that companies must notify users when using AI algorithms.

The UK government set out its views in a white paper in March, but was criticized for having “significant gaps”.

But Mark Warner, a member of the government’s AI council, has pointed to a tougher approach, saying some of the most advanced forms of AI may eventually have to be banned, according to the BBC. told to

Matt O’Shaughnessy, visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the UK could do little to address the fact that other countries are leading the way in AI regulation, but could still play an important role. .

“The EU and China are both big markets with proposed consequential regulatory schemes for AI. Without both factors, it would be difficult for the UK to have equal influence,” he said. rice field.

But he added that the UK is an “academic and commercial hub” with institutions “well known for their research on responsible AI”.

“All of this makes AI an important part of the global debate on AI,” he told the BBC.