How the British want to make AI more British

A new report by the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence was published today, and it’s clear lawmakers there want British AI to live up to the high standards of British ethics.

“The U.K. has a unique opportunity to shape AI positively for the public’s benefit and to lead the international community in AI’s ethical development, rather than passively accept its consequences,” said Lord Clement-Jones, chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the report, which calls for artificial intelligence to be developed for the good of humanity and to never do harm. He added, “It is essential that ethics take centre stage in AI’s development and use.”

While that sounds like the standard do-no-evil pleas for AI regulation, albeit with a British accent, the report went one step further, calling for an AI Council to regulate artificial intelligence. Presumably this council would work alongside the Government Office for Artificial Intelligence, whose planned existence was recently leaked.

If created, per the report, the council would be the first “industry body for AI” designed to act as a bridge between the private and public sector. The council would also play a role in educating the public about AI and even retrain workers for life in the brave new world.