Partner Anita Bapat and Trainee Gina Asadi have summarised the key features of the Government’s new White Paper on Artificial Intelligence below, we will provide further analysis in due course. 

The UK Government has released the long awaited White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) governance. This is based on industry stakeholders’ feedback on the Government’s policy paper on AI in July 2022. The White Paper aims to drive growth and prosperity, increase public trust in AI and Strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in AI. For now it seems the UK’s position on AI is in stark contrast to the EU’s under it AI Act which is more restrictive, in particular for AI that leads to a high risk for individuals.

The UK’s AI industry is one of the biggest in the world and it continues to thrive with hundreds of AI products being created each year. The Government has reported that the UK’s AI industry employs over 50,000 people and contributed £3.7 billion to the economy last year. AI products and services are currently being utilised across different sectors in the UK, for example AI is being used in the medtech industry to help medical professionals identify diseases. However, there are risks and concerns over the safety, security and fairness of the technology and its outcomes - the government proposed framework seeks to address these concerns.

The Government’s white paper seeks to draw upon existing legislation and structures. For instance, it does not intend to appoint a new regulator responsible for AI governance – instead the Government will ask existing regulators, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office, Health and Safety Executive, Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority, to determine how to best regulate AI in accordance with the way the technology is being utilised in each sector. As such, the existing regulators will publish tailored practical guidance, tools and resources to businesses in the following 12 months.

In summary, the proposed framework is based on the following elements:

  • Defining AI by reference to its unique characteristics (adaptivity and autonomy) to support regulator coordination;
  • Adopting a context-specific approach;
  • Establishing cross-sector principles to support regulator responses to risks and opportunities; and
  • Establishing functions to support regulators in publishing the AI regulatory framework.

The White Paper highlights 5 principles for AI governance:

  1. Safety, security and robustness: AI should be operated in a secure, safe and robust manner; safety and security concerns should be carefully managed.
  1. Transparency and explainability: businesses utilising AI should be able to explain clearly how and when the technology is used. Organisations should also be able to explain how the technology makes decisions and the risks associated. This overlaps with the requirement for transparency under the UK GDPR.
  1. Fairness: the White Paper aims to reduce concerns about the fairness of AI by ensuring AI tools comply with existing laws, such as the Equality Act 2010 or UK GDPR.
  1. Accountability and governance: AI governance is needed to ensure AI is being used appropriately and accountability exists for the outcomes. This is especially important when considering the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI, and potential discrimination.
  1. Contestability and redress: businesses utilising AI should have clear processes for disputing harmful outcomes or decisions reached by AI. Again this is especially important from an individual rights perspective so that individuals have a structured process to pursue any inappropriately negative or harmful outcomes.

The Government is also conducting a consultation on how to improve coordination between the regulators for management of the AI framework in the first 6 months following publication. The Government’s push for innovation will also involve funding a new sandbox as a trial, where businesses can see how the regulations could be applied to AI products and services.

 A full press release from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology can be viewed here and the full text here.