British Foreign Secretary Speaks on Working with China to Secure AI

(StraightNews.org) – British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he is happy to work with China to develop artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. Cleverly chaired the first United Nations Security Council meeting addressing the issue and said a global and collaborative response to the emerging technology is necessary.

“We either all do it together, and we are successful, or we don’t work together and we potentially run the risk of being unsuccessful,” he said. When asked if he saw any security risks in collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party, Cleverly insisted China has as much incentive as anyone else to develop the best guardrails possible.

The UK is due to host an international summit on artificial intelligence later this year, but the British have yet to confirm if Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be invited. The meeting will investigate and agree on safety measures to combat the most significant risks of AI. UK leaders organized the conference in response to warnings from industry experts that the world needed to be equipped to counter threats and hazards yet to be understood.

In May, the Center for AI Safety, based in the US, issued a statement calling for governments to take action as technology rapidly advances. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement read.

Earlier this year, Twitter CEO Elon Musk cautioned that AI could have catastrophic consequences and even warned it could hasten the demise of humanity. Musk was one of several signatories to a letter calling on governments to introduce regulations, even as he invests in the technology and simultaneously sings its praises. He said he uses AI in Tesla cars and intends to use it to “highlight manipulation of public opinion” on Twitter.

Mr. Musk announced the arrival of xAI in July – he said he will use this new technology to “understand the true nature of the universe” from a pro-humanity perspective.