The AI Safety Summit, hosted by the UK last November was a “damp squib” that “didn’t go anywhere” according to a Labour MP as the party seeks to distance itself from the previous administration on key tech policy matters.
Speaking at a technology panel at the 2024 Labour Party Conference, Exeter MP Steve Race said the attempt of the previous government to establish a leading voice in global AI regulation was wasted as its underwhelming flagship summit lacked any real “follow through”.
Race said the UK was the best-positioned nation to convene global voices discussing AI policy due to its “trusted” nature and history of regulatory prowess.
The MP noted that the Conservatives were correct in attempting to establish that position as “Americans can’t really do it”, however, there was no real impact from the summit itself.
Fellow panellist Casey Calista, chair of Labour Digital, said the approach from the incumbent government regarding AI regulation will be “very different”.
Calista said one of the “big mistakes” made by the Conservative government during the AI Safety Summit was treating “civil society as an afterthought”.
She said the Labour government would take a “whole of society approach” that included “diverse voices”.
Panellist Brittany Smith, the head of UK policy and partnerships at OpenAI, said the summit was “interesting” but focused far too much on “existential risks” down the line that ignored the people already facing harms from the technology.
Smith used the example of flawed facial recognition technology being sold to law enforcement that could unjustly “ruin lives”.
The UK will host a follow-up event to the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit and subsequent AI Seoul Summit in California in November.
The goal of this event is to discuss implementing the various safety protocols discussed at previous summits and by various nations’ AI Safety Institutes.
