Last November, the U.K. hosted world leaders and tech execs for a summit at Bletchley Park focused on the risks AI poses to national security, including through cyberattacks or bioterrorism.
Clegg, who served as Britain’s deputy PM from 2010-2015, said he “broadly agreed” with the argument pushed by Tony Blair that AI is the most likely solution to ills like ailing public services, government inefficiency and a stagnant economy. Blair, a former Labour prime minister, is deeply influential on the new Labour administration that replaced Sunak’s government this summer.
Asked whether Britain had a chance to be more nimble on tech regulation now that it is out of the EU, which recently passed a sweeping new law on AI, Clegg said he had “never personally understood” why jurisdictions were keen to be the first to legislate.
“What’s the point of being a regulatory leader if you’re not a leader in innovation and job creation and improved public services. Because these are the things that actually matter to society,” Clegg said.
Broadsides
Clegg’s broadsides come after the founder of German AI lab Aleph Alpha, Jonas Andrulis, also had a dig at AI doomers, saying that the fears around the existential risks of AI “had not come true.” He was speaking at the unveiling of Tortoise’s annual Global AI Index on Thursday.
Andrulis sang from the same hymn sheet on regulation too, lamenting that Europe had not poured as much energy into innovating as it had lawmaking.
