Government Sets Up Frontier AI Taskforce
Further to our recent article on the Government's white paper on the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), the Government has now announced the setting up of a Frontier AI Taskforce.
The role of the Frontier AI Taskforce will be to advise the Government upon the opportunities and risks arising out of AI. According to the announcement, whilst the Government recognises that AI "hold[s] enormous potential to power economic growth, drive scientific progress and wider public benefits,....[it] also pos[es] potential safety risks if not developed responsibly." As well as advising on the safety of AI, the taskforce will also look at "identifying new uses for AI in the public sector and [at] strengthening the UK’s capabilities."
The Frontier AI Taskforce will be made up of a wide range of experts from computer science to national security, and will have £100 million worth of funding.
Commenting upon the Frontier AI Taskforce announcement, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, stated that the taskforce would help in "ensuring that...[the UK]...can continue to harness the opportunities of AI safely, as we strengthen our own capabilities and encourage wider adoption of the technology across society."
The UK will also be hosting the first global AI Safety Summit on the 1st - 2nd November 2023 at Bletchley Park. The summit will look at the risks posed by AI and at the development and implementation of global frameworks for addressing those risks.
Potential Benefits
The potential benefits of AI that the Frontier AI Taskforce will be looking at are considerable. For example, as we highlighted in a recent article, AI could make a significant contribution to making a four-day working week the norm. In an interview with Fox Business’s Varney & Co, Sir Christopher Pissarides (who won the Nobel Prize in Economics back in 2010) stated: "Pace is driven by productivity. Productivity will increase because these machines are working faster and better than human beings at the tasks they are doing...[T]hey will be able to produce the same product.....in a much shorter period of time.....And therefore we’d be able to take that extra time off if you want."
Potential Risks
Nevertheless, the potential risks arising out of AI that the Frontier AI Taskforce will be assessing are also considerable, as we also highlighted in another recent article. Indeed, in a statement published on the Centre for AI Safety website, 350 leading researches and others who work in AI called for world leaders to take the existential risks posed by AI seriously, and to regulate its development. The statement reads: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Recruitment Slows, As Businesses Look To Offload Office Space
In their August 2023 UK Report on Jobs survey, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) / KPMG found that the numbers recruited into permanent roles fell at the fastest rate in over 3 years - since June 2020. Their index fell from 42.4 to 38.9.
Furthermore, the REC / KPMG also found that the recruitment of temps also fell for the first time since July 2020.
Commenting upon the findings, the chief executive of the REC, Neil Carberry, stated: "As inflation begins to drop, it is likely that firms will return to the market later in the year – employer surveys suggest confidence may be returning. But for now, the labour market has more slack than it has since the heights of the first lockdown."
Furthermore, research conducted by Gallagher has found that with 69% of businesses having adopted hybrid working, 63% of businesses are now looking to reduce their office space. With 7% having already moved offices, 37% are looking to move into shared premises, whilst 21% are looking to move into a smaller office.
The Managing Director of Risk Management at Gallagher, Neil Hodgson, stated: "Following the pandemic, there has clearly been a shift in the way that people work and businesses are [adopting a] more flexible approach to how their employees split their time working from home and in an office."
