A UK government-led international summit on safety in artificial intelligence (AI) is to be held at Bletchley Park – a venue closely associated with the development of modern computing.
The country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes played host to teams of codebreakers in World War II, as the Allies attempted to crack the German Enigma machine and its ciphers.
They included Alan Turing, who was pivotal in the development of theoretical computer science.
His Turing Machine can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer, and the test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to that of a human is still known as the Turing test.
Colossus, generally considered to be the first programmable electronic computer, was also developed on the site.
Announcing the event, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that there was “no better place” than Bletchley Park to host “the first ever global AI safety summit”.
The conference will take place on 1st and 2nd November, with delegates invited from all over the world.
“No country will be untouched by AI”
Foreign secretary James Cleverly said that an international approach was required to tackle the challenges increasingly being posed by AI as “no country will be untouched” by the technology.
According to the BBC, however, it is not known whether the Chinese government or Chinese tech giant Baidu will be invited to the event, despite being major players in the evolving AI scene.
It also seems very likely that a Russian representative will not be invited to the summit.
The conference will discuss how existing and developing AI tech can be safely developed through “internationally co-ordinated action”.
No further details of the programme have yet been released, but organisers have said that the event will build upon work by existing international organisations, including the Global Partnership on AI, the Council of Europe and the OECD.
Sunak said that it was vital to tackle the risks of AI in order to “fully embrace the extraordinary opportunities” that the technology promises.
The government recently announced £13m of new funding for researching the use of AI in healthcare.
Projects include new approaches to treating chronic pain and new developments in brain surgery.
AI is expected to be transformative in many areas beyond healthcare, but more calls are being made for risks to be addressed, with some calling for more regulation.
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