Don't Look To Sunak To Effectively Regulate AI

 

Sunak, as reported in the Guardian, was speaking on the plane to Japan for the G7 summit, where AI will be discussed, Sunak said a global approach to regulation was needed. “We have taken a deliberately iterative approach because the technology is evolving quickly and we want to make sure that our regulation can evolve as it does as well,” he said. “Now that is going to involve coordination with our allies … you would expect it to form some of the conversations as well at the G7.

“I think that the UK has a track record of being in a leadership position and bringing people together, particularly in regard to technological regulation in the online safety bill … And again, the companies themselves, in that instance as well, have worked with us and looked to us to provide those guard rails as they will do and have done on AI.”

The white paper on AI regulation the government introduced in March directly contradicts Sunak's statements as I've written about before. It's all about enabling AI companies, largely ignoring regulation. As far as 'bringing people together' in regard the 'online safety bill', the real result was bringing together criticisms the government refused to address in amendments. A good example is from Article 19 who point out the human rights concerns. The Bill ignores the platforms' business model that amplifies harmful content and gives them too much power over users' speech. It also relies on algorithmic moderation that often removes legal content and harms freedom of expression. 

As Paul Bernal pointed out in his blog: 'As it is, the Online Safety Bill looks likely to attack the symptoms rather than the causes of online harms. Unless it finds a way to address the underlying problems – and to confront the massive blind spot it has for the role of politicians and journalists – it will be just yet another massive game of Whac-A-Mole, doomed to failure and disappointment.'

One only has to look at the recent track record of this and recent administrations to realise that no effective AI regulation will emanate from the UK before it's too late.