Sunak hails 'historic' AI agreement at Bletchley summit
The worlds first ever global AI safety summit has drawn to a close with his speech
Rishi Sunak has said Britain's artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit will "tip the balance in favour of humanity" after reaching an agreement with technology firms to vet their models before their release.
The Prime Minister said "binding requirements" are likely to be needed to regulate the technology, but now is the time to move quickly without laws.
He described the UK's landmark AI safety summit held at Bletchley Park, the home of Allied codebreaking during the Second World War, as "only the beginning of the conversation".
The Prime Minister has previously said he would not want to "rush to regulate" the technology with binding rules, but in a press conference at the end of the event on Thursday he conceded it may need to be put on a statutory footing.
He also had warm words about Elon Musk - the tech billionaire with whom he will have a televised talk this evening - saying he was "delighted" that "one of the leading actors" had attended the summit.
Mr Sunak acknowledged the risk of AI upending jobs is causing "anxiety", but said the technology should be regarded as a "co-pilot".
"AI is a tool that can help almost everybody do their jobs better, faster, quicker, and that's how we're already seeing it being deployed," he told the press conference.
He said people should not be worried because "we're developing the education and skills system that we need to ensure everyone can flourish over the years and decades to come".
Asked whether the non-binding agreement reached with tech firms was enough to mitigate risks without the backing of legislation, Mr Sunak replied: "The lesson is that we need to move quickly and that's what we're doing.
"The technology is developing at such a pace that governments have to make sure that we can keep up.
"Now, before you start mandating things and legislating for things, I think... that takes time and we need to move faster, and we are, but secondly, you need to know exactly what you're legislating for and that's why our safety institute is so important.
"So far we've got the co-operation we need, but, of course, I think everyone would acknowledge, ultimately, binding requirements will likely be necessary, but it's important that we do those in the right way and that needs to be based on empirical evidence that we'll get from our testing."
It came after the Technology Secretary said a Terminator-style rise of the machines was a "potential area" where AI development could lead - remarks Mr Sunak did not distance himself from when asked about them later.
Michelle Donelan was speaking to Times Radio from the summit in Milton Keynes, where ministers have convened governments from around the world alongside tech firms and civil society to discuss the risks of the advancing technology.
Asked about the possibility of a "Terminator scenario" - a reference to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film in which machines take over the world - she said: "Well, that is one potential area where it could lead but there are several stages before that."
As he arrived at the summit on Thursday, Mr Sunak said "we can't be certain" about the risks of AI but there is a possibility they could be on a similar scale to pandemics and nuclear war.
The Prime Minister said: "People developing this technology themselves have raised the risk that AI may pose and it's important to not be alarmist about this.
"There's debate about this topic. People in the industry themselves don't agree and we can't be certain.
"But there is a case to believe that it may pose a risk on a scale like pandemics and nuclear war, and that's why, as leaders, we have a responsibility to act to take the steps to protect people, and that's exactly what we're doing."
The summit has seen delegations from around the world, including the US and China, agree on the so-called "Bletchley declaration" - a statement on the risks surrounding the technology to be used as the starting point for a global conversation.
Attending the gathering on Wednesday, Mr Musk said AI was "one of the biggest threats" facing humanity and it was "not clear to me if we can control such a thing" when humans face "something that is going to be far more intelligent than us".
Mr Sunak held a flurry a bilateral meetings with United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after arriving in Bletchley on Thursday.
Ms Meloni said she was "proud of (her) friendship" with her UK counterpart and hoped they could work together on AI to "solve the biggest challenge that maybe we have in this millennium".
After the meetings, he sat down for a roundtable discussion with figures including Kamala Harris, telling the US vice-president that her country's executive order on AI, signed days before the summit, was "very welcome in this climate".