October 27, 2023 AI Safety Summit Diary: A Prime Ministerial visit Author(s): Gina Neff Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, Prof. Gina Neff, Executive Director, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the Royal Society on Thursday 26 October for the Prime Minister's speech. What are the opportunities and challenges of AI development? In this latest diary entry, Gina Neff explores these themes on the road to the AI Summit. Over the next week, I will provide an insight into the conversations and themes emerging around AI Safety Summit. Today (Thursday 26 Oct) started off early, as I headed over to the Royal Society in London. I was invited to join an event to hear from the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, about his agenda for the Summit, and the capabilities and potential risks posed by AI. It was great to be at the Royal Society, and had brilliant conversations with Rupert Lewis, Chief Science Policy Officer at Royal Society, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive and the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, among many others. It was great to hear the from the Prime Minister on this issue and threats from the most advanced AI systems are not fully understood. The Global AI Safety Summit will create a framework for those discussions to begin, and the Prime Minister said that ‘the Future of AI is safe AI’. The work that of AI safety, though, isn’t just a technical problem. The UK will only be able to unlock the benefits of AI only if people trust the technology and that it is designed, developed, deployed and used in a safe and responsible way. Our research shows the amount of work that needs to be done to harness AI for societies’ benefit: building people’s skills and literacy for working with these powerful tools, strengthening existing capacity so that the UK’s sectoral-based approach to regulation works, and ensuring meaningful legislation that is fit for purpose for the new challenges AI poses to people, communities and the planet. These are not the kinds of policies that are on the table for the AI Safety Summit. But they are the policies that people care about, and they are the policies that we know will matter for making AI work for them in their lives. For example, our latest policy briefing recommends that the UK builds on its world-leading position in responsible AI to help companies develop responsible applications of generative AI, including tax breaks for investment in AI skills. After the speech, I was invited by BBC New Broadcasting House to voice this opinion on the airwaves. My interview was carried BBC Six O’Clock News (23 mins), BBC Radio 4 evening news bulletins (example at 13 mins), BBC News online. In the afternoon, I joined Jane Garvey on Times Radio (1h 17m), to discuss the Summit agenda, goals and attendees. In the evening I travelled to BBC Millbank, to take part in the BBC Newscast podcast. Here with Prof. Hannah Fry and the presenters of BBC Newscast, Adam Fleming and Alex Forsyth, we discussed the Summit, as well as the risks and opportunities presented by AI. This was a wonderful discussion on what AI is, why people are so concerned about AI safety and the aims of the AI Safety Summit. Read all posts from my AI Safety Summit Diary: Wednesday 25 October – AI Safety Summit Diary: the lead-up Thursday 26 October – AI Safety Summit Diary: A Prime Ministerial visit Monday 30 October- AI Safety Summit Diary: How do we ensure responsible AI? Tuesday 31 October – AI Safety Summit Diary: The Summit approaches… Wednesday 1 November – AI Safety Summit Diary: The here and now: The impact of AI on our lives Thursday 2 November – AI Safety Summit Diary: What’s next after the AI Safety Summit? Friday 3 November – AI Safety Summit Diary: How do we build a responsible and trustworthy international AI ecosystem?