The AI Safety Summit 2023 took place this week at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with international leaders, academics, AI experts and companies to evaluate the risks AI poses to humanity, as well as the possibilities it offers for the future.
Key figures in the AI space, including tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, spoke on AI’s impact on the future world of work. In conversation with the Prime Minister, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX said AI could become like a “magic genie” where no one has to work anymore.
“There will come a point where no job is needed. You can have a job if you want to have a job; for personal satisfaction; but AI will be able to do everything,” Elon said.
“Here we are for the first time in human history with something that’s going to be far more intelligent than us,” he later told reporters, before describing it as potentially the most pressing of “existential risks” to humanity.
“AI is at least 80% likely to be beneficial, and perhaps 20% dangerous. If we hope for the best and prepare for the worst… that seems like the wise course of action.”
Rishi Sunak’s key speech focused on the positive story of the summit, and how the UK is developing “the most advanced protections for AI of any country in the world”.
“Some said, we should never invite China, others said we’d never get an agreement with them. Both were wrong. A serious strategy for AI safety has to begin with engaging all the world’s leading AI powers. And all of them have signed the Bletchley Park Communique.”
He went on to add, “Drawing on the expertise of some of the most respected and knowledgeable AI experts in the world, our Safety Institute will work to build our evaluations process in time to assess the next generation of models before they are deployed next year.”
Watch some of PM Rishi Sunak’s speech here:
Members of the Summit agreed that Bletchley Park would be the first of a series of international safety summits, with both Korea and France agreeing to host further summits next year.
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ITN Business’ upcoming programme, ‘AI & Big Data: A Force for Good‘, will explore AI’s transformative capabilities that are creating a positive impact. It will feature contributions from thought leaders including the Alan Turing Institute, the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Institute and the Ada Lovelace Institute. Find out more here.
