AI Safety Summit 2023 held in UK: 5 significant takeaways
 |
| Elon Musk| Image credit: Brocadbandbreakfast |
AI is a boon or a curse? Is it too
soon to decide?
Global leaders are now
trying to get a hold of the expanding Artificial intelligence bubble. They seek
to provide a safe and conscious way to navigate the digital pool of AI.
The United Kingdom
recently hosted a significant artificial intelligence (AI) summit. Political
figures and tech experts from across the globe joined together to contemplate
the immense potential and associated challenges of the constantly evolving AI.
Popular faces like Elon Musk, Ursula von der Leyen, and Kamala Harris became part
of the event.
Rishi Sunak has celebrated the recent artificial intelligence summit as a significant diplomatic achievement. The summit resulted in an international commitment to tackle the risks associated with AI technology and a collaborative agreement to conduct testing on advanced AI models.
6 Major Takeaways from the UK AI Summit 2023
1. New Bletchley Declaration 2023
The event’s major concern was focused on making rules and guidelines for AI safety on a global scale. In a groundbreaking achievement, 28 countries from West to South agreed to the new Bletchley Declaration. Major players like the US, UK, and China also became part of the declaration.
What is in the New Bletchley Declaration?
Bletchley Declaration of 2023 outlines a plan for AI
developers to be more transparent about the safety and concerns of their AI
systems. It also aims to bring together scientists from different nations to
understand the risks of AI.
The objective of the summit was cooperation and
safety.
It is a milestone for cyber safety. Because it gets AI
leaders worldwide to agree on how to handle the potential dangers of AI in our
daily lives such as misuse or unintended issues related to controlling it.
However, the details are vague now. This declaration is considered as an important step to reduce the potential risks of AI.
2. Kamala Harris Speech on AI highlighting the evils of AI
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized the
immediate problems arising from AI during her speech. She emphasised discrimination, the spread of misinformation, and democratic issues arising out
of AI. These concerns are impacting vulnerable communities across the world.
She also declared that the US administration is
committed to tackling the social risks and regulatory complexities born out of
AI.
Harris labelled the AI-related dangers as potential
existential threats that are already harming marginalized populations and
democratic systems. She emphasised AI ethics and safeguarding consumers
through government measures in the United States.
Lest we should forget, US holds not only a significant position in the political sphere but also in the commercial landscape of AI. A majority of leading AI firms, including OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, are headquartered in the United States. This emphasizes that the U.S. holds significant influence not only.
3. Elon Musk: AI one of the biggest threats to humanity
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has been very vocal
about his concerns regarding AI. He firmly believes that AI is a threat to
humanity and it might get out of our control. He expressed similar concerns at
the summit. He labelled AI as “one of the biggest threats to humanity”.
Musk said, “So, you know, we’re not stronger or faster
than other creatures, but we are more intelligent. And here we are, for the
first time really in human history, with something that’s going to be far more
intelligent than us.”
He also added, “We can aspire to guide it in a direction that’s beneficial to humanity”, and assured to direct the development of AI in a responsible manner.
4. DeepMind Co-founder: No proof ChatGPT 4 can cause disastrous harms
Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of DeepMind also
shared his insights at the AI summit. His AI company was recently acquired by
Google and integrated into its core AI division. Mustafa hinted at temporary
hindrance in the AI growth in the upcoming years.
However, he emphasized the need to seriously consider
the AI issues and resolve them within the next five years.
However, he claimed that present models of AI such as ChatGPT 4 do not pose any threat to us. He said, “There is no proof today that cutting-edge models like GPT-4 … cause any significant or disastrous harms.”
Also read: Israel v/s Palestine: What is the reason behind the conflict?
5. UK invests £225 million in the new AI supercomputer
The UK government announced that it has invested £225
million investment in Isambard-AI, a potent new supercomputer. Its
construction is going on at the University of Bristol.
Isambard-AI aims to make significant advances in a
number of areas, including energy, healthcare, and climate modeling. UK plans
to combine this AI supercomputer with another supercomputer named Dawn to lead
in AI.
US is a major ally of the UK in this collaboration. Next
summer, these supercomputers will go online.
Day 2 of the Summit
On the second day after the declaration, the UN extended its support for an expert AI panel similar to the International Panel on Climate Change, and large tech companies committed to working with governments to test their cutting-edge AI models before and following their release.
India and Bletchley Declaration
India is one of the 28 countries that signed this
agreement. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and
information technology addressed the summit.
“We certainly want AI and the broader internet and
tech to represent goodness, safety and trust and underlying all of that,
underpinning all of that, platforms and innovators that demonstrate accountability
and the law to all those who use it,” said while addressing the meeting.
He added that nations exposed themselves to the
"toxicity, misinformation, and the weaponization" of the internet
that is prevalent today by letting innovation take preference over regulation.
Also read: What is Cloud Computing? How it is useful?
What is green tech? How does it impact us?
Conclusion
A high-stakes competition is underway
where major countries like US, China, and EU are competing for AI leadership.
However, the UK summit did break the ice
on the safety issues looming over AI users. But the summit holds much more
importance as every region wants to set its own AI regulations and standards in
order to strengthen its own political and economic objectives.
France will
be the next host of the AI safety summit 2024. will be hosted by France in 2024.
France has guaranteed to take this initiative forward until it reaches its
goal.
