AI Safety Summit: SMEs call for new laws to fight abuse

As the inaugural AI Safety Summit kicks off today, the DMA is urging the Government to use existing legislation to ensure the UK becomes a “pioneer of responsible AI innovation”, despite calls from the majority of SMEs for new laws to combat potential abuse of the technology.

In fact, according to a new DMA study, nearly half of SMEs (43%) do not plan to innovate with AI in the next year, largely because of a lack of confidence among business owners in the safeguards in place to protect society.

Of those SMEs who do plan to innovate with AI within the next 12 months, 40% believe current regulation does not offer sufficient safeguards for its development. Just under a fifth (17%) are in a position where they plan to innovate and believe current regulation is sufficient and over three quarters (76%) believe the UK Government should introduce new regulation.

The report, “Data Horizons: How UK SMEs and Consumers View the Future of Privacy Regulation” explores the viewpoints of SME business owners and the UK public on key issues at the heart of the evolving digital economy, it revealed strong demand among SMEs for responsible AI innovation and safeguards to protect society.

However, the DMA does not believe there is a need for new laws and supports the UK Government’s proposals to build on existing regulatory expertise and legislation, to establish a set of core principles to guide regulators across their respective sectors.

DMA managing director Rachel Aldighieri is a member of the Scottish AI Alliance, and is proactively helping to shape UK industry’s approach to AI’s responsible development and use.

She said: “Regulation will always have an important role to play to deter rogue organisations, but it must supplement an industry-led governance initiative.

“A stringent regulation-first approach could stifle innovation and show mistrust to businesses when most have genuine intentions for AI’s development — they just need more direction, support, and structure from industry leaders and regulators to help them to use AI effectively and responsibly.”

“The Global AI Summit will lay the foundations for the UK to become a pioneer in how to drive responsible AI innovation. To achieve this, industry leaders and government must first work together to build industry ethical frameworks founded on core values such as accountability, transparency, and public safety and trust, to ensure AI’s development remains a force for good and businesses become more confident to innovate in this space.”

According to the DMA study, both SMEs and consumers see the main perceived benefit of AI technology is that it will improve training and development. Over a quarter (28%) of SME owners and nearly a fifth (17%) of consumers stated this.

Even so, just 15% of SME owners stated it will be a boost to the UK economy as a key benefit, which suggests the Government must work with industry bodies to help upskill and educate businesses on the opportunities gained from AI innovation.

The main concern consumers have around AI is the reduction of jobs, with more than a third stating this (37%); followed by privacy and information (34%), societal detriment (27%), and national security (24%) yet a fifth (20%) have no concerns around AI.

Despite these range of concerns, there is high consumer confidence (66%) in UK regulatory bodies’ ability to keep up with emerging technology.

Aldighieri said: “It is encouraging to see high levels of confidence among the UK public in our regulators, as the importance of regulation can never be underestimated. However, to supercharge the potential economic and societal benefits associated with responsible AI innovation, government must now facilitate a values-driven, agile approach through industry ethical frameworks.”

She concluded: “The DMA community believes the human-AI team is our best future, with AI operating as a tool that humans use to assist and enhance our own abilities. This will certainly alter job opportunities among the public, but it must not diminish them. Ultimately, we must never forget the people AI is intended to serve.”

The AI Safety Summit, is being held at Bletchley Park (pictured) over the next two days. The Government says the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and China are among nations confirmed as attendees, along with representatives from The Alan Turing Institute, The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Ada Lovelace Institute.