Burnham urges world leaders to unite to keep AI from destroying humanity

Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, urged world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly to agree a single set of global rules for artificial intelligence, saying decisions on the technology are 'too important to be left to chance' and should be taken by elected governments rather than the private sector. Burnham cited warnings from tech industry figures, including Anthropic's head of alignment who said there was a 10 per cent chance AI could 'kill all humans' within the next decade, and said the UK would act as an 'honest broker' on frontier AI. The stance puts Burnham at odds with President Donald Trump, who has dismissed AI existential warnings as a 'hoax' and is due to be followed at the UN by OpenAI chief Sam Altman.

Burnham urges world leaders to unite to keep AI from destroying humanity - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source https://google.com/preferences/source?q=dailymail.com Andy Burnham https://www.dailymail.com/news/andy-burnham/index.html last night urged world leaders to come together to prevent AI from destroying humanity. In a speech to the United Nations https://www.dailymail.com/news/united-nations/index.html General Assembly, the Prime Minister said global action was needed following a string of warnings that the technology could pose a threat to life if it is allowed to continue developing at breakneck speed. He said the future of artificial intelligence https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/ai/index.html was 'too important' to be left to the private sector and urged leaders to agree a set of common global rules. The stance puts him on a collision course with Donald Trump https://www.dailymail.com/news/donald trump/index.html , who has railed against the idea of regulation. Senior figures in the tech industry have issued a series of alarming warnings in recent weeks. The head of alignment at Anthropic said there was a 10 per cent chance that AI could 'kill all humans' within the next decade https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-12659759/tech-boss-warns-artificial-intelligence-one-four-chance-destroying-us.html . OpenAI chief Sam Altman https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/openai/index.html is due to address the UN today. President Trump has dismissed warnings about the threat to life from AI as a 'hoax' designed to dent the lead of US firms in the race to produce https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16127943/Confident-Trump-dismisses-predictions-AI-killing-humans-says-wont-happen-issues-warning-beating-China-intelligence-race.html what he yesterday branded 'super intelligence'. In his speech in New York last night, Mr Burnham said it was time for the world to act. Andy Burnham addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on Tuesday The Prime Minister said AI had the power to transform the economy and cure diseases such as cancer if it was properly regulated to serve human interests. But he added: 'We know that AI will also be a source of disruption to the way we live and work – and a multiplier of risk. We've all heard the warnings, which we must heed. I know how worried people are. So we have to rise to this moment. 'Fundamental decisions on this technology are too important to be left to chance. They must be taken by elected governments who serve working people. And we need to give people the support they need through this change – ensuring that it becomes an engine for reindustrialisation and opportunity as well.' Mr Burnham said there should be no repeat of a recent incident in which the UK's AI Security Institute was denied pre-release access to the latest version of Anthropic's Claude Mythos programme. He said security chiefs had been asked to establish a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect and disrupt attempts by hostile states to manipulate opinion and undermine society in the UK through disinformation. The PM said Britain held 'a unique position as an honest broker', adding: 'We are going to step into that role. And we are going to start with one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our age – frontier AI. 'The UK has some of the best tech and AI talent anywhere in the world. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-12185049/Britain-global-hub-safe-AI-says-Rishi-Sunak.html And when it comes to guarding against the risks, we have our world-leading AI Security Institute – working hand in glove with the US and the leading labs on AI safety. But we need to go further.' Mr Burnham likened the situation to the global financial crisis when world leaders came together to prevent the collapse of the banking system. 'That is the kind of approach we need now,' he said. 'So we will bring the right people together on the key issues: delivering on the potential of AI for good, and dealing with the risks. 'And we will work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards to ensure the transparency and access we need to increase our preparedness – and to ensure that AI development is safe.'