US Vice President Harris calls for action on "full spectrum" of AI risks

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has called for immediate action to protect the public and democracy from the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). During a speech at the U.S. Embassy in London, Harris highlighted the risks that AI could pose to individuals and the Western political system.

Harris warned that AI has the capability to create “cyberattacks at a scale beyond anything we have seen before” and even “AI-formulated bioweapons that could endanger the lives of millions”. She termed these threats as the “existential threats of AI” as they could potentially jeopardize humanity itself.

In response to these concerns, the United States announced its plans to establish a new AI Safety Institute that would assess potential risks associated with AI. This initiative follows a similar announcement made by Britain last week.

However, the timing of Harris’s speech raised questions among British executives and lawmakers, who suggested that Washington was attempting to overshadow Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s AI Safety Summit scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Despite the skepticism, Harris invited several research groups to a closed-door event at the U.S. Embassy in London on Wednesday. As a result, some attendees may have to leave the summit at Bletchley Park early, leading to concerns about a potential diversion from the summit’s focus.

Sachin Dev Duggal, founder of London-based AI firm Builder.ai, expressed the significance of the issue, stating, “It’s a huge issue, and it undermines the core focus here.”

In her speech, Harris briefly mentioned the British event, which she plans to attend on Thursday. British officials denied any concerns, emphasizing their desire for diverse voices in the AI safety debate.

Harris advocated for a broader definition of AI safety, encompassing the “full spectrum” of threats, including bias, discrimination, and the dissemination of disinformation. She provided examples such as elderly individuals being denied healthcare due to faulty AI algorithms and women being blackmailed with manipulated images.

Highlighting the implications for democracy, Harris asked, “When people around the world cannot discern fact from fiction because of a flood of AI-enabled myths and disinformation, I ask, is that not existential for democracy?”

President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order granting the U.S. government greater oversight of AI systems that could pose risks to national security, the economy, public health, or safety. Additionally, the new U.S. AI Safety Institute will collaborate with international peer institutions, including Britain’s planned AI Safety Institute, to share information and conduct research.

Harris also revealed that 30 countries have agreed to sign a political declaration, sponsored by the U.S., to regulate the use of AI by national militaries.

Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Martin Coulter, Editing by Elizabeth Piper, Kate Holton, and Catherine Evans