Prime minister Rishi Sunak has warned global authorities have a year to put controls on artificial intelligence (AI) before it “gets out of control”.
Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that the PM believes safety protocols have to be in place before the next generation of AI updates are implemented, which is a “small window”.
Sunak is hosting an international AI safety summit in November, where safety commitments by developers are expected to be top of the agenda.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said in a statement: “We are at a crossroads in human history and to turn the other way would be a monumental missed opportunity for mankind.”
In particular, the summit will focus on the possibility of “where a bad actor is aided by new AI capabilities in biological or cyber attacks and loss of control risks that could emerge from advanced systems”.
Michelle Donelan, the Science and Technology Secretary, said that she hoped AI companies would commit to a “smoke alarm” that would halt development of the models when they identify dangerous activity.
Any action will be voluntary, the report said, and involve a commitment to play ball with the safety requirements rather than a mandate.
Investment in supercomputers could soon see new models tens of times more powerful than those currently in use, experts believe.