Now in its second and final day, the AI Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park, in Buckinghamshire, is bringing together nations from across the globe, in addition to tech and civil society experts, to discuss the risks associated with artificial intelligence and how they can be mitigated.

Those attending include prominent AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google Deepmind, as well as representatives from tech bodies like the Alan Turing Institute and the Ada Lovelace Institute. In terms of national presence, governmental figures from the US, Japan, China, France, Germany, and Italy, among other countries, are attending.

As the AI Safety Summit continues, Lochhead has voiced that he’s “disappointed the Scottish Government is not represented at the summit, despite requesting a place along with other devolved administrations.”

However, he also noted that, after a meeting with the Secretary of State Michelle Donelan, she “committed to closely engage with the Scottish Government going forward. I hope this happens.”

“Given the impact of AI regulation on devolved areas, and the likelihood implementation of regulation will be in the hands of Scottish agencies, Scotland’s interests and priorities need to be taken into account,” he added.

Lochhead has been the Scottish Government’s most vocal advocate for the ethical and trustworthy development, adoption, and use of artificial intelligence.

“Scotland gets AI,” he stated at an event this September at Scotland House London. “Our universities’ AI research and teaching has been ranked as world-class since the early formation of the sector, while Edinburgh was recently ranked the UK’s most “AI ready” city in the UK.”

“We are working to make Scotland a world leader in the development and use of artificial intelligence in a way which is trustworthy, ethical and inclusive. We are, first and foremost, a land of invention, a pioneer in technology and an ideal place to invest and grow an AI business,” he said.

Recommended reading

• UK AI Summit: What It Is, Who’s Going, and What the Tech Industry Wants
• The Next Steps for Scotland and its AI Ambitions
• AI in Scotland: A Present Based on Data, A Future Hinging on Education

Back in June of this year, Lochhead expressed his concerns over the UK Government’s “hands off” approach to AI regulation.

“We are a bit concerned that the current UK Government plans for the hands-off, non-statutory regulation of AI will not meet Scotland’s needs,” he said. “We don’t want to create unnecessary red tape, but we do have a duty to create the right supportive environment for business to thrive, and also for citizens to be protected.”

In a bid to help bring about such an environment at a global scale, 28 countries signed the Bletchley Declaration at the first day of the AI Safety Summit. It saw the countries agree to the urgent need to understand and collectively manage potential risks through a joint global effort, ensuring that AI is developed and deployed in a safe and responsible way.