In the National AI Strategy, the government made commitments to enrich our understanding of AI as it impacts the economy and society more broadly. Additionally, we recently launched a steering board chaired by the heads of both the government analysis and scientific functions, to ensure cohesive cross government approaches to understanding AI impacts. An overview of the high-level questions we are asking in this regard are outlined in the section below. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-aistrategy)
Some priority work we are currently developing to meet these commitments include:
An analysis of the AI White Paper consultation to feed into the formal consultation response. This will allow us to take on feedback from the public and various key players in sectors across the economy, and better tailor policy interventions to support strategic AI aims.
Establishing the AI Safety Institute to advance the world’s knowledge of AI safety by carefully examining, evaluating, and testing new frontier AI systems. The Institute will conduct fundamental research on how to keep people safe in the face of fast and unpredictable progress in AI, improving our understanding of the capabilities and risks of AI systems.
A monitoring and evaluation framework for AI regulatory interventions in tandem with the AI regulatory white paper. This will develop our understanding of key metrics to monitor with regards to Ai governance and ecosystem impacts.
Research into the AI sector and supply. Updating the AI Sector Study to establish a consistent and comparable set of economic indicators for the AI sector in terms of producers and suppliers. This study helps us to best understand where the AI sector needs support, to grow sovereign capability of the UK in AI, in alignment with strategic priorities.
The development of a cross-economy national AI risk register. Developed in tandem with a responsibility register that garnered cross Whitehall agreement on which departments hold which risks with regards to AI. The risk register will provide a single source of truth on AI risks which regulators, government departments, and external groups can use to prioritise further action.
Further research into Compute and the best ways to leverage compute to support the AI sector. This will be key to informing our response to the future of compute review, and maximising the £1 billion+ investments in state-of-the-art compute.
If you are keen to register your interest in working and connecting with DSIT Digital Technology and Telecoms Group and/or submitting evidence, then please complete the DSIT-ARI Evidence survey - https://dsit.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cDfmK2OukVAnirs.
Please view full details: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-science-innovation-and-technology-areas-of-research-interest/dsit-areas-of-research-interest-2024
ENFIELD will create a unique European Centre of Excellence that excels the fundamental research in the scientific pillars of Adaptive, Green, Human-Centric, and Trustworthy AI that are new, strategic and of paramount imp...
Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee
Lead research organisation: UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
Partially relevant as it focuses on creating a European Centre of Excellence in AI research, but does not specifically address risk assessment methods.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can have dramatic effects on industrial sectors and societies (e.g., Generative AI, facial recognition, autonomous vehicles). AI UK will pioneer a reflective, inclusive approach to responsibl...
Funded by: EPSRC
Lead research organisation: University of Southampton
Partially relevant as it focuses on creating an international ecosystem for responsible AI research, but does not specifically address risk assessment methods.
According to a UK government report (2019), approximately 50% of SMEs in the UK were using AI technology. The government has called for greater transparency in AI systems to ensure they are used ethically and fairly. We ...
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: DIGITAL READINESS & INTELLIGENCE LTD
Fully relevant as it aims to develop an intelligent tool for evaluating the operational assurance of AI systems, addressing risks and ethical use of AI.