AI Safety Summit 2023: A Rundown of the Bletchley Declaration

AI Safety Summit 2023

Dive into the essentials of the AI Safety Summit with this rundown, providing insights into the key participants, themes, and rationale behind this pivotal event.

As AI’s capabilities are expanding into every facet of our lives, it is clear that this poses significant opportunities, but equally, immense challenges that cannot be ignored.

A new, landmark agreement, named the “Bletchley Declaration” has been signed, underscoring the collective commitment to confront and tackle the risks of AI. This concord spans continents and ideologies, endorsed by nations including the UK, US, EU, China, Australia, with representatives from 28 governments worldwide. 

This signifies a monumental shift from individualistic to collective examination of frontier AI risks, a pivot aptly voiced by UK technology secretary, Michelle Donelan.

Read on to find out who is attending, why King Charles has declared urgent action and what else has followed the start of this AI Safety Summit.

The Bletchley Declaration: a global commitment

Taking place on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd November, the UK’s international AI summit was held at Bletchley Park. 

Located in Milton Keynes, Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate, which was a British Government cryptological establishment in operation during World War II. Alan Turing worked here with his fellow agents to decrypt Nazi Germany’s Enigma machines. 

The historic site stated on their website that they are making “history once again this week by hosting the world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit.” 

In a press release issued and shared by the Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on the 4th August 2023, Bletchley Park announced that they would host a “world first” summit on AI Safety at one of the birthplaces of computer science and “once the home of British Enigma code breaking.”

In a historic move towards addressing the challenges posed by the rapid expansion of AI, the AI Safety Summit 2023 witnessed the signing of the "Bletchley Declaration." 

This landmark agreement reflects a collective commitment to confront and tackle the risks associated with frontier AI. Representatives from 28 governments worldwide, including the UK, US, EU, China, and Australia, endorsed this accord, signalling a shift from individualistic to collective examination of AI risks.

One of the most notable moments of the summit included SpaceX and Tesla Founder Elon Musk being interviewed by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In his opening remarks, Musk commented that the summit: “Will go down in history as being very important. I think it's really quite profound.” 

When discussing the topic of government regulation of AI, Musk argued that national leaders should adopt the role of “referee” when it comes to AI – “When you're talking about digital super intelligence, which does pose a risk to the public, then there is a role for government to play to safeguard the interest of the public."

A new era for AI safety

In the Chair’s Summary of the AI Safety Summit 2023, the UK Government stated in its policy paper: “Participants affirmed the importance of continued collaboration and agreed on the urgency of establishing a shared international consensus on the capabilities and risks of frontier AI, which will evolve as the technology develops.”

The objectives for the AI Safety Summit 2023 were as follows:

• Objective 1. A shared understanding of the risks posed by frontier AI and the need for action;
• Objective 2. A forward process for international collaboration on frontier AI safety, including how best to support national and international frameworks;
• Objective 3. Appropriate measures which individual organisations should take to increase frontier AI safety;
• Objective 4. Areas for potential collaboration on AI safety research, including evaluating model capabilities and the development of new standards to support governance
• Objective 5. Showcase how ensuring the safe development of AI will enable AI to be used for good globally.

Figures like Tesla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk, US Vice President Kamala Harris, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Facebook’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg and Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, Brad Smith joined the plethora of tech moguls, governmental representatives, and academics. 

It was further amplified by the virtual presence of UK’s King Charles III who amplified an important message:

"The rapid rise of powerful artificial intelligence is considered by many of the greatest thinkers of our age to be no less significant, no less important, than the discovery of electricity, the splitting of the atom, the creation of the world wide web, or even the harnessing of fire." 

"AI holds the potential to completely transform life as we know it, to help us better treat and perhaps even cure conditions like cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's, to hasten our journey towards net zero and realise a new era of potentially limitless clean green energy even just to help us make our everyday lives a bit easier."

King Charles also emphasised an urgent, unified response to the challenges of AI while acknowledging its transformative potential.

The future of AI safety

The summit culminated in the launch of the UK’s AI Safety Institute, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at building public sector capability in conducting safety testing and AI safety research. The institute's work, exploring all potential risks, will be made widely available, contributing to the global understanding of AI safety.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan championed the UK’s instrumental role in the summit and in the AI landscape. They highlighted the UK's rich pedigree, evident from its thriving AI industry, which directly contributes £3.7 billion to the economy and leading AI companies, like Google DeepMind. 

The UK's potent blend of international partnerships, advanced AI industry and academic expertise hopes to ensure the safe and responsible development of AI worldwide.