Rishi Sunak says AI has threats and risks but outlines its potential

James Gregory and Zoe Kleinman, Technology Editor BBC News Artificial intelligence could help simplify the creation of chemical and biological weapons, warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Mr. Sunak said that in the worst case, society could lose all control over AI, preventing its shutdown.

While potential harm is acknowledged, we should not "bury our heads in the sand" about AI risks, he said.

In a speech aimed at positioning the UK as a world leader in artificial intelligence, the Prime Minister said the technology is already creating jobs.

He added that AI development will be a catalyst for economic growth and productivity, although it will impact the labor market.

In his Thursday morning speech, potential opportunities and risks associated with AI, including cyberattacks, fraud, and child sexual exploitation, were outlined following the release of a government report.

Mr. Sunak said that among the risks outlined in the report was the potential for AI to be used by terrorist groups "to spread fear and disruption on an even greater scale."

He said reducing the risk of human extinction due to AI should become a "global priority."

But he added: "This is not a risk that people should lose sleep over now, and I don't want to be a scaremonger."

He said that overall he is "optimistic" about AI's potential to change people's lives for the better.

The threat that will be much closer to home for many is the disruption AI is already bringing to workplaces.

Mr. Sunak noted that artificial intelligence tools effectively perform administrative tasks such as contract preparation and decision support—roles traditionally carried out by employees.

He said that, in his view, education is the solution to preparing people for a changing job market, adding that technology has always changed how people earn money.

For example, automation has already altered the nature of work in factories and warehouses, but it hasn't completely eliminated the human factor.

The Prime Minister insisted that it is too simplistic to say that artificial intelligence will "take people's jobs," instead urging the public to consider technology as a "co-pilot" in everyday work life.

What is AI, and is it dangerous? Reports, including declassified materials from the UK intelligence community, contain a range of warnings about threats that AI may pose over the next two years.

According to the government report "Security and Safety Threats of Generative AI until 2025," AI could be used to:

Enhance terrorists' capabilities in propaganda, radicalization, recruitment, financial flows, weapon development, and attack planning. Increase instances of fraud, identity theft, ransomware, currency counterfeiting, data gathering, voice cloning. Increase the number of images of child sexual abuse. Plan and conduct cyberattacks. Undermine trust in information and use "deepfakes" to influence public debates. Gather knowledge about physical attacks by non-state violent actors, including chemical, biological, and radiological weapons. Experts are divided on the threat posed by AI, and previous concerns about other new technologies have not been fully realized.

Rashik Parmar, CEO of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said, "AI will not grow into 'Terminator.' If we take the necessary steps, it will be a reliable co-pilot from our earliest school days to our retirement."

In his speech, Mr. Sunak said the UK will not "rush to regulate" AI because "it's hard to regulate what you don't fully understand."

He said the UK's approach should be proportionate while encouraging innovation.

Mr. Sunak wants to position the UK as a leader in technology security, putting it at the center stage where it cannot realistically compete with major players like the US and China in terms of resources or domestic technology giants.

For now, most influential Western AI developers appear to be cooperating, but they also keep many secrets about what data their tools are trained on and how they actually work.

The UK will have to find a way to persuade these firms to stop, as the Prime Minister put it, "marking their own homework."

Professor Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford, said the UK is "not inclined to regulate AI at this point, so it's interesting for Sunak to say that the UK is particularly well-suited to lead efforts to ensure AI safety."