UK AI Task Force Adviser Calls for AI Regulations Within 2 Years

• 1 Regulating AI should now be among the priorities of policymakers, says Clifford.
• 2 The field of AI is still in its infancy, but the pace within the last couple of years has been astounding.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in its early stage, and concerns around the rapid growth of this technology have been rising. The issues become dense enough for people to start thinking of its regulation and control over it. Matt Clifford, an adviser at the United Kingdom Prime Minister AI Task Force, provided valuable insights and advocated for implementing regulations within some years.

In an interview with a local media outlet in the U.K., TalkTV, an AI Task Force adviser, talked about AI’s good and bad aspects. Though he talked about artificial intelligence needing to be controlled with proper regulations before getting too powerful, he also asserted the benefits if managed properly.

One of the significant highlights of Clifford’s interview was projecting a tentative period for AI regulations to come into the picture. He stated that uncertainties exist regarding when artificial intelligence will become capable enough to alter the course of humanity. Even AI experts like Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Facebook, have no idea that it will take decades for the technology to surpass humans in terms of intelligence.

Clifford argues the two-year time frame is sufficient to “know both controlling and regulating” the large language models, if not today. The concerns revolve around AI becoming powerful enough to pose a threat to human lives, as nobody has a clear idea of its potential in the coming years.

So the former Chairperson at Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the U.K. government’s research funding agency, stressed the two years time will tell how to control these models if given focus. He also added that nationally regulating AI will not be enough, it would need global cooperation.

Regulating AI would make the technology safe and, according to Clifford, “everyone benefits from AI being safe.” Moreover, Narrow AI and general AI need different treatments in terms of regulation, he added. The regulations should be such that they don’t stifle innovation in space.

The concerns revolve around AI becoming powerful enough to harm human lives, as nobody has a clear idea of its potential in the coming years. The letter from the Center for AI Safety has the signatures of 350 experts from space.

It includes people from different backgrounds, including professors, CEOs, founders, politicians, etc. Some notable names on the list were Bill Gates from Gate Ventures, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, US Congressman Ted Lieu, and many more.