British Science Association: Forget Global Warming, Fear A.I.

Written by Sarah Knapton on September 6, 2018. Posted in Current News

Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of physics and public engagement at the University of Surrey, said the unprecedented technological progress in AI was ‘happening too fast’ without proper scrutiny or regulation.

Prof Al-Khalili warned that the full threat to jobs and security had not been properly assessed and urged the government to urgently regulate.

Speaking at a briefing in London ahead of the British Science Festival in Hull next week, he said: “Until maybe a couple of years ago had I been asked what is the most pressing and important conversation we should be having about our future, I might have said climate change or one of the other big challenges facing humanity, such as terrorism, antimicrobial resistance, the threat of pandemics or world poverty.

“But today I am certain the most important conversation we should be having is about the future of AI. It will dominate what happens with all of these other issues for better or for worse.

“Is Russian cyber hackers were able to meddle with the 2016 US elections, then what is stopping cyber terrorists from hacking into any future AI controlled power grids, transport systems, banks of military installations.

“Our government has a responsibility to protect society from potential threats and risks.”

Dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence and robotics has improved exponentially in recent years with British companies like DeepMind leading the way in developing intricate neural networks previously thought impossible.

However last week the Bank of England warned that ‘large swathes’ of Britain’s workforce is now under threat of unemployment as robots and algorithms take over jobs. Even industries previously thought immune, such as creative writing, are now being replaced by artificially intelligent programmes and earlier this month M&S announced it was replacing call centre staff with AI.

Prof Al-Khalili added: “Many people are becoming increasingly nervous about what they see as unchecked progress in AI.”

“There are valid concerns about the widespread implementation of AI leading to an increase in inequality. Robotics and autonomous systems are predicted to bring about job losses, primarily affecting workers in low-skilled roles, and there is still little research on how the future effects of automation might vary across the UK.

“We are now seeing an unprecedented level of interest, investment and technological progress in the field, which many people, including myself, feel is happening too fast.”

A survey released this week by KPMG found that 59 per cent of Britons believe there should be more government regulation saying they were increasingly worried about data privacy and security.

KPMG is also calling for a ‘British Standard of Trust’ – a kite-mark for AI and data security.

Sue Daley, Head of AI at TechUK, which represents tech industries in Britain warned that it was time for ‘practical action’ to control artificial intelligence.

“AI has unprecedented potential to transform every aspect of our economy and society,” she said. “The UK is already a world leader in AI innovation in key sectors, such as health and finance.

“But we must keep pace if the UK is to remain at the forefront in the development and application of AI technologies.

“This means acting now to create the right conditions to drive AI uptake, build the next generation of AI experts and put in place the mechanisms for the UK to be a world leader in the development of, not only innovative, but also responsible and ethical AI. The time for practical action is now.”

Comments (3)

Alan Stewart

September 6, 2018 at 3:50 pm | #

Prof.Al-Kahlili has also produced and excellent series of documentaries re science and its history. Easy to find on your browser. But this leads directly to the questions of unskilled immigration and world population. This has to be discussed pragmatically, not morally. Actually, on second thought, mass unemployment is a moral issue. But, in all probability the Left will not debate rationally as is happening within Climate Change.

Kind of happy that I’m closer to the end of my life than the beginning.

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John Nicol

September 6, 2018 at 10:50 pm | #

The main problem I believe is the lack of any oversight in the use of the internet and connections to it as it stands today. The fact that national security operations are connected through the internet, albeit with “secure” encryption, just beggars belief,

If these systems and sets of sensitive data were set up totally independent (physically) of the internet with their own optical fibres or copper wires, the process of “hacking” would be unknown, and all the required data would be perfectly safe except for internal villains who might dump itonto the internat as does happen now of course – as shown by Wikileaks.

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rod

September 7, 2018 at 1:29 am | #

Folks, the toothpaste has left the tube. That sometimes very foolish saying: “You can’t stop progress” is about to enable AI to decimate society. If you put enough people out of work, and off the path leading to earning money to feed themselves and possess more than the shopping cart they push on the streets, you guarantee armed revolution. If you give most of us a guaranteed minimum wage, increasingly based on little or nothing more than that which bitcoin is based on, collapse is sure to occur and then the military must take over. If you pay many of us to sit around idly, you will have engendered a corps of digital terrorists who will hack the government and bring it to its knees. Armed revolution and/or anarchy, that is the ultimate gift of AI.

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