James Lawless
Question:49. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for a report on his attendance at the AI Safety Summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51221/23]
View answerThursday, 23 November 2023
Questions (49)
Written answers
I attended the AI Safety Summit which took place in Bletchley Park on 1/2 November, on the invitation of the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan.
Countries attending agreed to the Bletchley Declaration on AI safety, which recognises a shared consensus on the opportunities and risks of particular uses of AI, and the need for collaborative action on frontier AI safety.
Ireland’s engagement on AI development, in particular in negotiating the EU AI Act, but also in other international fora looking at AI governance, emphasise the importance of ethical, person centred development and deployment of AI, and an inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach.
During the Summit, I participated in such broad and inclusive discussions, involving representatives from across sectors and reflecting on the urgent need for a shared international understanding. I participated in a Roundtable Discussion on the risks from the Integration of frontier AI into society. I also participated another Roundtable Discussion focussed on the theme of what the international community should do in relation to the risks and opportunities of AI. This session discussed where international collaboration is most needed to both manage risks and realise opportunities from frontier AI, including areas for international research collaborations.
During the Summit, I had the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with my Indian counterpart, Minister of State at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, whose country will be hosting the Global Partnership on AI meeting as well as a G20 meeting in December. I also engaged with my Spanish counterpart, the Secretary of State for Digitisation, Carme Artigas and the UK Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman.
The Summit provided the opportunity for informal engagements across all of the sectors whose active participation will be required for both the economy and society to fully realise the enormous opportunities and mitigate any risks presented by deployment of AI, including governments, industry, academia and civil society leaders.
The next in-person AI Safety Summit will be hosted by France in 1 year’s time.