Cooper: World cannot wait for ‘AI Hiroshima’ before acting on safety concerns
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned that the power of artificial intelligence must be regulated globally before it is put on a potentially devastating display.
He said international agreement on AI security is needed to harness its potential safely.
Ms Cooper argued that international agreements on nuclear weapons only emerged after their “terrible power” was revealed at the end of the Second World War, but “we cannot afford to wait for an AI equivalent of Hiroshima”.
Earlier this month, the UN’s panel on artificial intelligence warned that “the gap between rapidly evolving capabilities and effective risk management methods could lead to disastrous consequences.”
Five Eyes intelligence alliance: UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; He warned that AI-enabled cyber attacks could be just months away.
In an article published for the Chatham House international relations think tank on Monday, the Secretary of State said the UK was well placed to lead work on AI security, building on the 2023 Bletchley Park summit under then prime minister Rishi Sunak.
He said there were “clear parallels with the international consensus that after the Second World War the UK helped build around nuclear security”, which led to agreements allowing the development of nuclear energy and the containment of nuclear weapons.
“But there is no such agreement among global powers on artificial intelligence,” he said.
“International agreement on nuclear came only after the world saw the terrifying power of the new technology in Hiroshima and asked what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.
“We cannot afford to wait for the AI equivalent of Hiroshima before taking action.”
The article, Britain’s Place in the New World Order, says people in the UK are increasingly feeling the impact of global instability, from rising energy and food prices to migration pressures and risks of cyber attacks.
Ms Cooper said rivalry between major powers was resuming, international rules were weakening and global supply chains were being weaponized in areas such as energy and technology.
He said there was a need to “build on the power of Britain in all its forms and to use that power as a force both for the good of the world and, above all, for the betterment of the lives of the British people”.
