The government has said that the UK’s upcoming AI summit, which is set to take place this autumn, will consider AI’s risks and how they can be appropriately mitigated through co-ordinated international action, helping to develop a shared approach to AI.

The announcement of the summit comes after a recent spat of discussions and meetings from members of the UK government with world leaders, businesspeople, and tech figureheads regarding AI.

In addition to having discussions on these issues with members of the G7 at the Hiroshima Summit last month, Sunak also met with the CEOs of AI firms OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic, to discuss how AI can be developed safely and regulated responsibly.

As part of his in-progress visit to Washington DC, Sunak is set to stress the importance of a collaborative AI approach, as to develop an international framework for the safe and reliable development and use of AI.

“AI has an incredible potential to transform our lives for the better. But we need to make sure it is developed and used in a way that is safe and secure,” said Sunak.

“Time and time again throughout history we have invented paradigm-shifting new technologies and we have harnessed them for the good of humanity. That is what we must do again.

“No one country can do this alone. This is going to take a global effort. But with our vast expertise and commitment to an open, democratic international system, the UK will stand together with our allies to lead the way.”

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The explosion in AI interest and usage was triggered by the release of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot ChatGPT by in November 2022. It also intensified the debate regarding how it should be regulated, which is still continuing given the complexities involved.

Next week, on 14 June, the European Parliament is set to vote on its proposed AI Act — which aims to introduce a common regulatory and legal framework for artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Richard Lochhead, the Scottish government’s Minister for Small Business, Trade, and Innovation, voiced his concerns last week over the UK government’s “hands-off” plans regarding 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.

He also called for a four nations summit on the implications of AI to be held “as soon as possible.”

While a summit is now in the works — albeit global, rather than specifically for the four nations — it’s yet to be seen whether the proposed summit date of autumn is perhaps too far in the future, given how quickly global regulators now want to address AI risk.