Since it was established in 2019, the AI Council has advised
government on AI policy with regards to national security,
defence, data ethics, skills, and regulation, which has played a
key role in developing landmark policies including the National AI Strategy,
and the recent AI Regulation White
Paper. The Council also supported the government’s early
COVID-19 efforts, highlighting the immediate needs of the AI
startup ecosystem and facilitating rapid intelligence-gathering
that shaped government support for the tech sector in its
pandemic response.
With the terms of the AI Council members coming to an end, the
Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology is
establishing a wider group of expert advisers to input on a range
of priority issues across the Department, including artificial
intelligence. This will complement the recently established
Foundation Model Taskforce, which will drive forward critical
work on AI safety and research. Since the Council was first
established, the UK’s technology landscaped has evolved rapidly.
The country’s first department dedicated to Science, Innovation,
and Technology is driving forward the UK’s science and tech
superpower ambitions, with some of the world’s brightest minds in
AI descending on London later this year for the global AI summit.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has
thanked the outgoing Council members and the Chair for their
significant contributions to strengthening the foundations of the
UK’s AI ecosystem and the key role the Council has played in the
development of the UK’s early strategic approach to AI policy.
The government will continue to draw on the important source of
expertise of former AI Council members within this wider group of
expertise.
Additional information:
The AI
Council’s Terms of Reference established that members would
sit on the Council for a fixed-term period of up to 3 years.
Our White Paper published in March made clear that we would
“review the role of the AI Council and consider how best to
engage expertise to support the implementation of the regulatory
framework.”
