Rishi Sunak compared the dangers of artificial intelligence to nuclear war

“AI could pose a risk as large as a pandemic”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warns that artificial intelligence could pose a danger to humanity on the scale of a nuclear war. The UK head of government is calling for protection against this threat amid a global summit on AI safety.

Artificial intelligence could pose a threat to humanity on the scale of a pandemic or nuclear war, Rishi Sunak warned as world leaders gathered at Bletchley Park to discuss how to regulate the AI ​​industry.

The British prime minister said he is concerned about the risk advanced artificial intelligence models pose to the public, echoing recent warnings from some of the industry’s most senior figures.

According to The Guardian, Sunak hopes to secure agreement from governments including the US, EU, Japan and Canada on how countries can work together to test the safety of artificial intelligence tools before they are released.

Sunak told reporters: “The people developing this technology themselves have raised the risk that artificial intelligence can pose and it is important not to panic about it. There is debate on this topic. The industry itself does not agree with this, and we cannot be sure. But there is reason to believe that this could pose a risk on the scale of pandemics and nuclear war, and that is why, as leaders, we have a responsibility to take action to protect people, and that is exactly what we are doing.”

His words echo those of Elon Musk, who told reporters at a summit on Wednesday that artificial intelligence is “one of the biggest threats to humanity.”

Prime Minister Sunak arrived at Bletchley Park for the second day of intensive diplomatic activity at the international summit on artificial intelligence security.

British officials were pleased to be able to publish a communiqué at the start of the summit, signed by 28 governments including the UK, US, EU and China. The so-called “Bletchley Declaration” promised that signatories would work together on common security standards in a process that officials compared to summits on the climate crisis.

Sunak’s efforts to position the UK as a global leader in developing new rules on artificial intelligence were partly overshadowed on Wednesday by US Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo’s announcement of the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Security Institute in Washington.

But British officials say they expect to work closely with the new US institute and others to create a “network” of similar organizations that can carry out testing around the world.

The Prime Minister defended his decision to host Elon Musk and allow the conversation to be broadcast on one of his platforms. Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, he said: “Elon Musk himself was an investor and developer of artificial intelligence technologies. But for more than a decade, he has also been talking about the potential risks they pose, and the need for countries and companies to work together to manage and mitigate those risks. So he’s someone who obviously has something to add to the conversation.”