Artificial Intelligence: News Media
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Baroness Twycross(1 week ago)
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Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, the Minister keeps saying that the Government want to get this right—and of course, who could argue with that—but does she agree that in the broader sense, there are two fundamental tenets that we should be aware of? The first is that AI cannot be uninvented. The second is that it is developing extremely rapidly, so action to keep it under some sort of control has to be taken rapidly. Getting it right too late will not be the answer.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I agree that getting it right too late would be an issue, but we need to work through all the consultation responses properly. In preparation for this, I asked officials how fast they could do it, and they pointed out that it would not necessarily be appropriate for them to use AI to go through over 11,000 submissions. In addition to going through the submissions, we have announced plans to convene two working groups over the summer to look at transparency and technical tools, as well as a parliamentary group to engage Members as policy is developed. We will be reaching out to key contacts in the AI and creative sectors, including news media, to identify a mix of attendees as we work through our policy in this area.
Victory in Europe and Japan: 80th Anniversaries
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Baroness Twycross
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, I welcome the Statement, but one of my regrets about the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War was the lack of focus on the immediate post-war period and the political and diplomatic failures that set the conditions for the later, even more damaging, conflict. This is in direct contrast to what happened in 1945, when it was recognised that enduring peace is not a natural or spontaneous phenomenon but requires sustained international commitment, co-operation and effort. That message is surely as relevant today as it has ever been, so can the Minister reflect on how that particular theme might be woven into this year’s commemorations, particularly with regard to education?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The noble and gallant Lord makes a really important point. The first part of that discussion will be on the point that only by learning about our past and seeing how it relates to our present will we genuinely pay tribute to those who died and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. The schoolwork will play a particular role in that. All of us are mindful of the very fragile place the world is in—it is even more fragile than a year ago—so that very present understanding of how we need to work together across national borders to secure peace, and the recognition that we cannot take it for granted, have to run through our commemoration of these events.
Emergency Alert Service
Debate between Lord Stirrup and Baroness Twycross(10 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
My noble friend rightly highlights the danger of heat in terms of its potential impact on the public. As he and other noble Lords will be aware, the summer of 2022 saw the highest ever recorded temperature in the UK. The capability was not in use at the time, but this is an example of the type of event in which an alert would be considered. More recent summers have been somewhat milder, but this is the type of incident that would be appropriate for the use of emergency alerts.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that one way to ensure that the systems are effective would be to have a proper national resilience command and control structure that carried out policy development, gaming, resilience and stress testing, and ensured not only that the technical systems work but that the personnel involved in them were familiar with all the challenges that would face them in the real event?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Some of the issues the noble and gallant Lord refers to were highlighted by the Covid inquiry module 1. The Government have committed to respond to that within six months and I anticipate that the very valid point he makes will be addressed in that response.