Monday 27 September 2021

UK Releases First National-level Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Recently, the British government officially released the "National Artificial Intelligence Strategy", hoping to obtain AI-driven economic returns by providing support in skills upgrading and retraining. The project is currently being gradually advanced.

This is the UK's first plan dedicated to long-term improvement of machine learning technology capabilities. It is expected to promote the commercialization of artificial intelligence in the UK in terms of quantity and type in the next 10 years.

UK National AI Strategy

Earlier, the UK talked a lot about the prospects of artificial intelligence in its future industrial and digital strategy. The country’s national-level AI strategy is following its early planning, with the goal of developing into a world-wide artificial intelligence superpower. However, so far, there is still controversy as to whether the strategic plan contains substantive policies.

It is reported that since 2014, the total investment of the British government in artificial intelligence has exceeded £2.3 billion, which is not enough for the new AI strategy. At present, the British government has not announced the amount of funds expected to be invested in the new strategy.

It now appears that the strategy will initially focus on data collection to help introduce the UK’s future AI policy. Among them, the most interesting is the review of current copyright and patent rules in the UK, focusing on artificial intelligence.

In addition, the British government is considering whether to include artificial intelligence provisions in the trade agreement, but it remains to be seen whether the country can gain a voice on the global stage in this field.

5 Measures Announced in the British Artificial Intelligence Strategy

The specific contents are as follows:

First, launch the National AI Research and Innovation Programme to better improve the collaboration between researchers in the country, and promote the use of AI in the UK. Prompt the application in commercial and public sectors while enhancing its AI technology level and bring it to the market.

Second, launch the Office for AI (OAI) and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) programs to continue the development of AI technology in areas outside London and the southeast, with a focus on commercialization. . For example, the British government invests researchers and developers in fields that do not currently use much AI technology but have strong potential, such as energy and agriculture.

Third, a joint review was issued with UKRI to bring the availability and capacity of computing power to British researchers and organizations. In addition, the joint review will also consider the commercialization of artificial intelligence and its deployment requirements, such as its impact on the environment.

Fourth, through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to initiate negotiations on copyright and patent matters in the field of artificial intelligence, and combine copyright and patent systems to ensure that the UK better supports the development and use of artificial intelligence. The consultation will also focus on how to protect inventions generated by artificial intelligence and take measures to help researchers more easily use copyrighted materials in artificial intelligence development.

Fifth, with the help of the artificial intelligence standard center under experiment, assist the British government to participate in clear global rules, cooperate with The Alan Turing Institute to update the ethical principles and safety guidelines applicable to artificial intelligence, and create practical tools. To ensure that the use of artificial intelligence technology conforms to ethical standards.

It should be noted that although the British government's strategy this time is dedicated to establishing a regulatory environment conducive to innovation for artificial intelligence, the country has lagged behind in defining the regulatory framework. In fact, the EU already has a comprehensive proposal to regulate the high-risk applications of artificial intelligence, but unfortunately, the UK is now outside the EU.

Currently, the UK does not have a clear policy on how data should be used. At the same time, the existing data protection system is also being questioned. Its government hopes to somehow increase people's trust and adoption of artificial intelligence and other technologies through weak protection of citizens' information.

It is worth mentioning that for start-ups and companies that have expanded in the direction of artificial intelligence, the strategy proposes a plan to assess "private funding needs and challenges", which will be carried out in the next 6 to 12 months. In addition, the British government stated that it will launch a new visa system at the same time to attract the world's best artificial intelligence talents to the UK.

It is reported that the United Kingdom is considering publishing open and machine-readable government data sets for AI models, and will turn its attention to specific tasks in the next 12 months or more. If British start-up companies want the country to participate in the promotion of artificial intelligence development, it may mean that a variety of interesting government data sets are about to be obtained to train artificial intelligence models.

The new British Minister of Digitalization, Culture, Media and Sports, Nadine Dorries, said that this national-level artificial intelligence strategy will show the world that the UK intends to establish the most innovative regulatory environment in the world and ensure that everyone Both can benefit from artificial intelligence, and at the same time use artificial intelligence technology to deal with climate change and other challenges facing the world, thereby promoting the prosperity and development of the entire United Kingdom.

Doris added, "Artificial intelligence will become the core of our economic growth and enriching people's lives, and the vision set in this artificial intelligence strategy will help achieve these two important goals."

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