UK launches inquiry into AI over concerns about potential risks
(Baonghean.vn) - On May 4, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will begin investigating the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on consumers, businesses and the economy.
Although research on AI technology has been going on for many years, the rapid development of innovative AI applications like ChatGPT has changed the way businesses and society operate.
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Governments around the world are now trying to find a balance where they can assess and contain some of the potential negative consequences of AI without hindering the development of this technology.
The CMA has launched an investigation into the artificial intelligence sector, seeking to investigate competition and consumer concerns as US tech giants such as Microsoft and Google have launched new products in recent times.
The investigation will focus on “foundational models” such as large language models and generative AI, such as those developed by the Microsoft-backed company OpenAI.
Big language models are AI systems trained on huge amounts of data to understand human language and give human-like responses.
Generative AI refers to tools that allow users to create new content based on requests from Internet users. These technologies have great potential to help people work more efficiently, reducing the time needed to create simple copy for various purposes.
However, they have also alarmed regulators, who are concerned about the rapid pace of development of AI systems and what this means for the labor market.
“AI has exploded into the public consciousness in recent months but has been on our radar for some time,” Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said in a statement on May 4. “It is a technology that is developing at breakneck speed and has the potential to transform the way businesses compete and drive significant economic growth.”
“It is vital that businesses and consumers in the UK can easily access the potential benefits of this innovative technology while people are protected from issues such as false or misleading information,” added Sarah Cardell. “Our aim is to help this new technology develop in a way that ensures open, competitive markets and effective consumer protection.”
The CMA said it would receive comments and seek evidence from stakeholders until June 2. The regulator will then publish a report outlining its findings in September.
The CMA's announcement follows a government request for regulators to consider how principles such as safety, transparency and accountability are built into AI systems.
In March, the UK government published a white paper outlining a new approach to regulating technology, choosing to split regulatory responsibility for AI between human rights, health and safety, and competition regulators, rather than creating a new agency dedicated to the technology.
Several other countries around the world have also launched investigations to examine the risks posed by AI. The UK's announcement of an investigation follows investigations in China, Belgium, Italy and the US.
Earlier this week, US Vice President Kamala Harris held meetings with Microsoft and Google as well as AI startups OpenAI and Anthropic to discuss the responsible development of AI.
Meanwhile, US Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan said regulators are on alert for ways that rapidly innovating AI could be used to violate antitrust and consumer protection laws./.