China takes action, agreeing with West about ‘catastrophic’ danger of artificial intelligence

The UK, US, EU and China have signed a declaration on the ‘catastrophic’ dangers of artificial intelligence. However, the communiqué from the Bletchley summit in the UK did not agree to the creation of a testing center in the UK, as some in the UK government had hoped.

China, the UK, the US, the EU and Australia agreed that artificial intelligence poses a potentially catastrophic risk to humanity, in the first international declaration to address the fast-evolving technology.

According to The Guardian, twenty-eight governments signed the so-called “Bletchley Declaration” on the first day of an artificial intelligence security summit organized by the British government. The countries have agreed to work together on research into the safety of artificial intelligence, even as there are signs that the US and UK are competing for leadership in developing new rules.

Rishi Sunak welcomed the announcement, calling it “absolutely incredible”.

Speaking ahead of his own speech at the summit on Thursday, the Prime Minister added: “Nothing will change the future of our children and grandchildren more than technological advances such as artificial intelligence. We owe it to them to ensure the safe and responsible development of artificial intelligence, recognizing the risks it poses early in the process.”

Michelle Donelan, the UK’s technology minister, told reporters: “For the first time, countries have agreed that we need to not only independently but collectively consider the risks posed by edge AI.”

As The Guardian explains, Frontier AI is among the most advanced systems that, according to some experts, can become more intelligent than humans in solving a range of problems. Speaking to the PA news agency on the sidelines of the summit, Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX as well as Platform X, warned: “This is the first time we are faced with a situation where there is something that is much smarter than the smartest person… it’s not for me clearly we can actually control such a thing.”

Donelan opened the summit by telling her fellow participants that the development of artificial intelligence “cannot be left to chance, neglected or entrusted only to private actors.” She was joined on stage by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology Wu Zhaohui, in a rare display of global unity.

Matt Clifford, one of the British officials responsible for organizing the summit, called Raimondo and Wu appearing on stage together as a “wonderful moment.”

China signed a declaration that included the sentence: “We welcome the efforts of the international community to cooperate in the field of artificial intelligence to promote inclusive economic growth, sustainable development and innovation, protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and strengthen public confidence in artificial intelligence systems for full implementation their potential.”

Wu told fellow delegates: “We are committed to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Countries, regardless of their size and scale, have equal rights to develop and use artificial intelligence. ”

However, there is little international agreement yet on what a global set of AI rules might look like or who should develop them.

Some British officials had hoped other countries would agree to strengthen the government’s artificial intelligence task force so it could be used to test new models from around the world before they are introduced to the general public.

Instead, Raimondo used the summit to announce a separate US AI Safety Institute within the country’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, which she called “a neutral third party to develop best-in-class standards,” adding that the institute would develop its own safety regulations and testing.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration issued an executive order requiring U.S. artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI and Google to share the results of their safety tests with the government before releasing artificial intelligence models.

Vice President Kamala Harris then gave a speech on artificial intelligence in London, in which she spoke about the importance of regulating existing artificial intelligence models, as well as more advanced ones in the future.

Clifford dismissed any suggestion of a rift between the US and UK over which country should take global leadership in regulating artificial intelligence.

“You probably heard Minister Raimondo really praising us from the top of her lungs and talking about the partnership that she wants to establish between the UK and the US security institution,” he said. “I really think it shows the depth of the partnership.”

The EU is in the process of passing an artificial intelligence bill, which aims to develop a set of regulatory principles as well as introduce rules for specific technologies such as real-time facial recognition.