King’s Speech
Lord Taylor of Warwick Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I too congratulate the four noble Lords who made excellent maiden speeches today. I also congratulate Aston Villa, who are playing in the Europa League final tomorrow.
The Stone Age did not end because mankind ran out of stone; we just found more effective ways of doing things. Science, innovation and technology have historically brought solutions to everyday problems. Britain can be proud that it started the Industrial Revolution. We are now in the fast-moving artificial intelligence revolution, but the issue is whether we are leaders or followers, giants or clients.
One of the lessons from history is that we should learn lessons from history. It was my Bill that, in 1997, established Britain’s first ever comprehensive DNA database. As a result, we became the first nation in the world to embrace this ground-breaking technology. Nearly 30 years later, the DNA database has positively transformed the effectiveness of medicine, and forensic and research science. Of 195 nations in the world, 175 now utilise DNA profiles. I declare a further interest as a vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence. I am also a former chancellor of Bournemouth University, which has its own specialist data science and AI department.
The King’s Speech included key Bills of direct relevance to the technology sector, including the cyber security and resilience Bill and the regulation for growth Bill, but there was no mention of an AI regulation Bill. Meanwhile, AI is being monitored in pieces, through the Online Safety Act and a patchwork of policies in various sectors. This is not the same as a coherent framework for the development, deployment and use of AI.
The cost of this delay is showing up most visibly in copyright. The dispute between rights holders and AI developers has been running for years, with no resolution in sight. Ironically, in the music industry, wealthy musicians such as the UK’s Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney have been speaking out on behalf of lesser-known creative artists, who cannot afford expensive legal fees to protect their copyright. Clear regulation is not the enemy of innovation, so will the Minister indicate when we are likely to see an AI regulation Bill?
The cyber security and resilience Bill is long overdue, in an increasingly pressurised, cyber-threatened ecosystem. In recent months, we have seen major airports such as Heathrow, retail chains such as Marks & Spencer and large manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover all immobilised by cyber hacking, so can the Minister say whether this Bill will properly account for AI stewardship?
The regulation for growth Bill claims to give organisations controlled environments to build and test AI tools, but I query whether this will be enough to support the innovation landscape and retain AI companies in the UK. There are numerous examples of UK AI start-ups that were created here but bought out by the Americans. For example, DeepMind in London was sold to Google; SwiftKey in Cambridge was acquired by Microsoft; and VocalIQ, another start-up company in the east of England, was taken over by Apple.
Earlier this month, I was invited to speak at an awards ceremony in America; it was the biggest AI event, presumably, in the world. It was backed by the federal Government and Wall Street. We need that here now.