Artificial Intelligence: UK Preparedness

Lord Howell of Guildford Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My Lords, the AI Security Institute conducts research, builds tools to understand and mitigate frontier AI risks, and works with like-minded partners through the International Network for Advanced AI Measurement, Evaluation and Science to advance the science of AI evaluations. We will continue to update this House with our latest initiatives to ensure that the UK understands and, where necessary, mitigates the impacts of advanced AI systems.

[Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that AI systems are proliferating rapidly and may compete rather than co-operate, and that this degree of self-correction is perhaps one of the areas that we should encourage to stand in the way of the undoubted spreading power of the AI system generally?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My Lords, artificial intelligence is the primary driver of productivity across the economy, from life sciences to the creative industries. We are accelerating adoption by providing businesses of all sizes with access to essential skills, data and compute. I understand the noble Lord’s point about the power of AI. We are ensuring that the AI Security Institute does all the necessary tests to ensure safety before any products are rolled out.