Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has emphasised the “tremendous upsides” to AI that should not be overlooked, as a growing number of tech engineers have warned of its threat to existence.
Reynolds told the BBC that the UK should “never be complacent” about AI or “naive about the impact”, although he emphasised that new models could boost public services and the wider UK economy.
His comments followed a raft of warnings from top AI bosses, including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Elon Musk, calling for a slowdown in innovation due to the “serious” risks of the technology.
“I think people will be worried by some of the things they’ve heard in the last few weeks, and I think we’ve got to be careful not to get hyperbolic about this either,” Reynolds said.
“I mean, of course there are risks, but let’s be frank: there are some tremendous upsides for people as well, whether it’s public services, healthcare, or the contribution to the economy.”
He also hit back at calls from some MPs across the House of Commons and Lords for the introduction of a “kill switch” on AI, claiming he did not know how one would work given most models are developed in the US and China.
The Cabinet minister said he was “not sure what the proposition is” and argued that some tech giants’ decision to share models with the AI Security Institute showed the UK was “recognised for our expertise”. Anthropic withheld its latest model for testing by the AI Security Institute, according to the Financial Times.
Reynolds also refused to confirm whether the government would make pre-release testing compulsory. He argued that Britain has “got to be a player in this” and that further international co-operation involving the US and China would “keep people safe”.
Trump attacks AI slowdown #
A fierce debate over AI development has erupted in the US. Musk, Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman have pushed for a slowdown, around a week after a former Anthropic engineer said there was more than a 10 per cent chance of human extinction due to AI.
Jacob Coxon, a British mathematician who worked at Anthropic as a researcher, told the BBC on the weekend that he was “genuinely concerned about the fate of humanity in the next two years”.
President Donald Trump hit back at tech bosses, calling warnings a “sick hoax”. He said he had the “high IQ” that could safeguard the US and claimed there were “conspiracy theorists, treasonists, traitors, and leakers” looking to undo the gains introduced by AI.
AI minister Kanishka Narayan is expected to take questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.