14 Deferred

Introduce a tightly-focussed AI Bill to establish regulator 'due regard' duties promptly.

Recommendation
The Government has said in the AI white paper that it may legislate, at a minimum, to establish ‘due regard’ duties for existing regulators. That commitment alone—in addition to any further requirements that may emerge—suggests that there should be a tightly-focussed AI Bill in the new session of Parliament. Our view is that this would help, not hinder, the Prime Minister’s ambition to position the UK as an AI governance leader. We see a danger that if the UK does not bring in any new statutory regulation for three years it risks the Government’s good intentions being left behind by other legislation—like the EU AI Act—that could become the de facto standard and be hard to displace. (Paragraph 106) The governance of artificial intelligence: interim report 37
Government Response Summary
The government does not intend to introduce new AI legislation immediately, preferring an evidence-based approach and further learning about risks. They will provide more details on their next steps as part of the white paper consultation response.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government Deferred
In the AI Regulation White Paper, we said that we do not intend to introduce new legislation immediately. We are taking an evidence-based approach to regulation, establishing the Frontier AI Taskforce (and now the AI Safety Institute) to offer vital insights into the advanced capabilities of frontier AI and foundation models. Furthermore, we convened nations to examine frontier AI risks at the AI Safety Summit. Alongside this, we have been working with leading frontier AI companies who have now published their AI safety policies and we have developed the “Emerging Processes for Frontier AI Safety” document, providing information on how these companies can keep their models safe. At the Summit, there was clear consensus that there is an important role for governments in holding frontier AI companies to account and that binding requirements may be required. But rather than rushing to legislate, we want to simultaneously learn about model capabilities and risks, while also carefully considering the frameworks for action. This is in line with the iterative approach to regulation we set out in the AI Regulation White Paper and will ensure we are putting in place the right measures at the right time. The response to the AI Regulation White Paper will set out the Government’s position on the issues raised in the AI Regulation White Paper consultation. The white paper consultation response will provide our latest assessment of the development of the UK’s AI regulatory framework. Our response to the Committee will not pre-empt setting out this assessment in the white paper response, which is the appropriate place for the Government to respond to feedback provided in that consultation. We would like to take this opportunity to reassure the Committee that as part of our development of the white paper and since its publication, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has worked closely with other departments in the development of the UK’s regulatory approach for AI. This includes our work to review the regulatory landscape to support the principles-based approach we set out in the white paper and the establishment of the Central AI Risk Function to monitor developing risks from AI and coordinate mitigations. Taking such an evidence-based approach to AI regulation will put us in the best position to keep pace with this fast-moving technology, and we will set out further details on our next steps as part of the white paper consultation response.
Addressee Bodies
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Timeline
Recommendation age 2.8 yrs
Report published 31 Aug 2023