Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for adoption of artificial intelligence in the public sector.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to harnessing AI and other technologies to deliver the government’s five missions and improve citizens’ lives. Public sector adoption is a key part of the forthcoming AI Opportunities Action Plan. The plan will detail how we can reimagine our public services by ensuring the public sector takes advantage of the best emerging use-cases and tools.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the risk of AI-generated misinformation in elections.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has in place established systems and processes, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK. We are working extensively across Government to ensure we are ready to rapidly respond to any threats to our democratic processes. The Government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference, by engaging across government and with Parliament, the UK’s intelligence community, the devolved administrations, local authorities, the Electoral Commission, the private sector, and civil society. The threat to democracy from AI was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.
The Government is working closely with social media platforms to ensure they are taking action to protect the integrity of the next election. Implementation of the Online Safety Act and the Foreign Interference Offence will make a significant difference here. For example, under the Online Safety Act, all companies subject to the safety duties will be required to take action against illegal content online, including misinformation and disinformation where it amounts to a criminal offence, and will be required to take steps to remove this content - including where it is produced by relevant AI bots - if they become aware of it on their services.