Bloomberg reports That the UK has taken a significant step in shaping the future of artificial intelligence (AI) by starting to draft regulations that will focus on the most powerful models of language, such as those powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT. At the moment, a bill does not appear to be imminent, and reports are that the UK government is likely to wait until after an artificial intelligence conference to be hosted in France later this year or in early 2025.
It is reported that the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is in the early stages of drafting legislation, which will try to prevent potential harm to AI users. The UK’s position on artificial intelligence has been to avoid moving too fast, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying countries should not “rush to regulate” artificial intelligence during the first world leaders’ summit on artificial intelligence last year. However, officials at both DSIT and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have proposed amending UK copyright legislation to protect content creators from AI models scraping their content.
Elsewhere, the European Union moved to approve in December last year new regulations for artificial intelligence software and services, which will apply to artificial intelligence software, services and companies that develop and offer artificial intelligence products. The AI ​​Law was passed by the European Union Parliament on March 13, 2024 and will become law as soon as the member states sign it.
In the United States, the Department of Justice appointed its first AI officer in February 2024, with the goal of providing the department with their expertise and establishing a team of technical and policy experts to address emerging technology issues.
When Bloomberg asked the government if it planned to introduce AI legislation soon, the prime minister’s spokesman, Dave Pares, echoed Sunak’s position about the speed of implementation. However they stated that “it has always been clear to us that all states will eventually have to introduce some form of AI legislation”.