The UK and the Republic of Korea are gearing up for the second Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit, set to be held in Seoul on 21 and 22 May.
It will aim to build on progress made at the AI Safety Summit hosted by Britain in November last year, which convened world leaders and technology executives to discuss the risks to humanity posed by the most advanced AI systems, known as foundation models.
UK tech secretary, Michelle Donelan said: “The summit we held at Bletchley Park in November was a generational moment. We agreed the historic Bletchley Declaration and have ensured discussions around AI safely are firmly on the international agenda.
“If we continue to bring international governments and a broad range of voices together, I have every confidence that we can continue to develop a global approach which will allow us to realise the transformative potential of this generation-defining technology safely and responsibly.
“I am looking forward to building on the ‘Bletchley effect’ with this next round of talks in the Republic of Korea, who are perfectly placed with their rich history of technological innovation to advance the global conversation on AI safety,” she added.
The first day of the summit will feature a virtual leaders’ session co-chaired by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Global industry leaders will join to provide updates on their efforts to uphold the commitments to AI safety made last year, including the Bletchley Declaration, signed by 28 governments including the UK, US, EU and China.
On the second day, Digital Ministers from various nations will convene in person, co-hosted by UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and Korean Science Minister Lee Jong-Ho.
Minister Lee Jong-Ho said: “The AI Safety Summit held in Bletchley, UK last year marked a milestone in which the government, industry and academia coming together to address the potential risks of AI, and I am pleased that the Republic of Korea takes the baton from the UK.”
He continued: “AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace that exceeds our expectations, and it is crucial to establish global norms and governance to harness such technological innovations to enhance the welfare of humanity.
“We hope that the AI Seoul Summit will serve as an opportunity to strengthen global cooperation on not only AI safety but also AI innovation and inclusion, and promote sustainable AI development.”
It comes just after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned about the concentration of market power among a handful of incumbent technology giants within the FM value chain.