AI: International Co-operation
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(1 week ago)
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Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
We set out yesterday in our Written Ministerial Statement the allocation of responsibilities under the Government going forward. The strategy will be looked after by the Cabinet Office, which is taking the lead for AI strategy and public sector AI adoption. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade will take on responsibility for the science and innovation portfolio. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is a whole of government approach. You will find discussion of AI policy implications in every sectoral dimension, from financial services to maritime, because it is a technology that affects all areas. That is another reason why we need to look at regulation with a sector by sector approach, because it affects different sectors differently.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, there can be no greater motivation for extensive international co-operation on AI than when it comes to safety. Other noble Lords have referred to this, but it is worth reiterating in detail that, last night, the co-founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, announced to the world that its latest next-generation version GPT-5.6 Sol, and an even more capable pre-release model were involved in an unprecedented cyber incident and independently executed a complex cyber attack. Surely the time for giving advice to the tech companies is over. I welcome the Government’s Bill on cyber security and resilience, but it does not extend to AI. Will the UK lead the way and co-ordinate a global agreement on the transparency, oversight and regulation of AI?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
We will continue to build on the work of discussing AI safety, adoption and governance through existing multilateral and multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as those I referred to before, including the G7, the OECD Global Partnership on AI and the Council of Europe, among others. That is the approach we will be taking forward. My noble friend raises very important questions, and in respect of online safety, our online safety regulator co-operates closely with other regulators to look at the implications of AI for online safety and will continue to do so.
Online Hate Speech
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Berger
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of online hate speech.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
Hateful online content impacts people and communities. Illegal hateful content can be used to incite violence and stoke public disorder. We have seen this across the UK. Even where legal, hate online can be used to divide communities. It can erode trust in public institutions and the media. The Government are clear that hatred or division, online or offline, will not be tolerated. We have both criminal offences and regulatory measures to prevent and punish this type of behaviour. We saw law enforcement use its powers to prosecute people for illegal online activity during the Southport riots, for example.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, last month, X gave assurances to Ofcom, which were accepted, that it was taking steps to address illegal hate and harm on its platform. In light of the recent violence that we have seen in Belfast, and the role of X and its owner in inciting it, will the Government encourage Ofcom to revisit this judgment? Will the Minister also investigate the failure of X to remove five accounts which are breaking its terms of service by repeatedly posting anti-Jewish and Holocaust denial content?
Social Media Ban for Under-16s
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The noble Baroness is right to highlight the importance of the definitions and ensuring that we target the platforms that we intend to. The definition that we have adopted from that in Australia is
“whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms”.
We will look carefully at the criteria and how they apply to particular platforms and expected exemptions to ensure that when the regulation is applied in the real world. it achieves its purpose. We will be developing that during this year, so it may not be quite immediately that we update the noble Baroness.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, I warmly welcome yesterday’s announcement of a social media ban. It will make a material difference to the future of many children and young people in our country and is what parents and carers across the country have been crying out for. I echo many of the sentiments expressed. I commend the courage and tenacity of the bereaved parents who every day have campaigned on this issue to ensure that no one else must suffer as they have to every single day. I echo the many points that have been made about enforcement.
On functionalities, many have talked about safety by design. The Prime Minister said that we were going to see stranger pairing stopped. It is right that this happens, but it must be associated with ensuring that no child or young person can be geotagged or located through location services. Stranger pairing is very dangerous—knowing where young people are should be restricted to the parents, carers and, potentially, the siblings of those young people.
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for her passionate advocacy of the importance of improving online safety for our young people and for the engagement that she has had over the years with the families and others. She is right to highlight that we are taking action on not just social media companies but the functionalities. I undertook to write to the noble Lord, Lord Nash, on geotagging and geolocation. I will make sure that I write to my noble friend at the same time.
Sovereign AI Fund
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(1 month, 4 weeks ago)
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Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The noble Lord is right. Our ambition is to make the UK the best place to start, to scale and to stay. That is not just for the AI sovereign fund, important though that is, but for the ecosystem. That is why we are investing in public compute, so that firms here will be able to access it, why we have our ambition for UK procurement and why we are looking at measures such as AI growth zones: to make this country one of the most attractive, as we can see from the amount of foreign direct investment that is already coming into the UK.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, France, Germany, South Korea, Switzerland, Singapore, Canada and Ukraine are all investing in their own sovereign AI models, for a variety of reasons, including data control, data protection and, most importantly, economic competitiveness. What consideration are the Government giving to using the sovereign AI fund to invest in the UK’s own sovereign AI model?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
As I mentioned just now, the sovereign AI fund is one of the components of how we think about UK strength. With it, we are looking at where we can have a UK strategic advantage. The five main priority areas that we have outlined are compute efficiency and sovereign architecture, next-generation AI labs and model development, AI for health and life sciences, AI for scientific discovery, and AI for trust, integrity and assurance.
Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Berger
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of developments in artificial intelligence on current levels of employment.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
The AI and the Future of Work Unit has been set up to research and monitor AI’s economic and labour market impacts and to provide policy advice. The unit published its first assessment in January, finding that AI capabilities are progressing rapidly and noting that hiring has been falling faster in occupations more exposed to AI, although it stressed that whether AI is responsible for these patterns remains unclear. To further increase the Government’s capability to monitor and anticipate AI’s economic impacts, the Chancellor announced a new AI Economics Institute supplementing the future of work unit with a broader focus on the economics of AI.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, we already know there is a growing challenge in the graduate job market exacerbated by AI, as we have recently discussed in your Lordships’ House. A study by King’s College London has shown that senior leaders across all job markets will be needed who cannot be replaced by AI. What plans do the Government have to ensure there is no dearth in senior leadership further down the line due to a lack of entry-level recruitment?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The Government recognise that entry-level roles are important for building skills and progression pathways that underpin future leadership capability. Progression to senior leadership depends not only on job numbers but on the quality of training and in-work development. The Government want everyone to have access to the best opportunities, no matter what stage they are at in their career. Through the £1.5 billion youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy, we are expanding high-quality training, apprenticeships and workplace experience so people can progress in a changing, AI-enabled labour market.
TikTok: Bereaved British Parents
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(6 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
We are aware of the case brought in the United States. No parent should have to go through what these parents have. Our deepest sympathies are with those affected. We have commenced powers through the Online Safety Act to require information from services about a child’s online activity in the tragic event of their death. We have also established a data preservation process to ensure that services preserve relevant data. We are committed to making those powers work effectively.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her reply. Ellen Roome is one of a number of bereaved British parents who are suing TikTok. Ellen had been fighting for four years to get access to her son Jools’s social media account after he died performing a TikTok challenge. Digital data that should be preserved as evidence in the critical early period following a child’s death is not being requested and is routinely being deleted or lost. Justice must prevail. Will the Government ensure that there is automatic digital data preservation for every one of these tragedies so that they can be fully investigated?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The Government are aware of calls to make the data preservation process faster. These are new powers and we are actively monitoring the effectiveness of the current process, working closely with Ofcom to do this. We are carefully considering any means that could allow relevant data to be preserved in a timely manner to ensure investigations are well informed and families get the answers they need.
Children: Social Media
Debate between Baroness Berger and Baroness Lloyd of Effra(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Berger
To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to introducing a ban on social media for all children under the age of 16 similar to the one to be introduced in Australia on 10 December.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
We understand parents’ concerns about the impact of social media on children. We have taken some of the boldest steps globally to ensure that online content is genuinely age appropriate. It is important that we protect children while also letting them benefit safely from the digital world. We are closely monitoring Australia’s approach to age restrictions. When it comes to children’s safety, nothing is off the table, but any action must be based on robust evidence.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, our children and young people are living through an experiment imposed on them by platforms that are profiting off their stress, their lack of sleep and their diminished self-worth. I welcome the Australian Government taking action to address the urgency and gravity of this issue. I listened closely to my noble friend the Minister. The impact on teenagers in this country is getting worse, not improving. Will the UK follow Australia, Norway, Denmark, Malaysia and the EU, and impose a ban on under-16s?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
We are taking serious action here in the UK through the Online Safety Act. We are also looking very carefully at the evidence that is available about the impacts of social media, screen time and media use on children’s development. At the moment, we do not see a causal relationship between screen time, social media use and children’s development, but we are committed to improving this evidence base. We are looking very closely at what other countries are doing, particularly Australia, with which we have an MoU.