Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how she plans to promote research into new models of (a) assessment and (b) support.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government’s November 2023 ‘Response to the Independent Review of the RDI Organisational Landscape’ announced the creation of a new Metascience Unit, jointly run across the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with an initial funding commitment of £10m. The unit will deliver a competitive grants programme and will also conduct experiments to test and robustly evaluate the effectiveness of changes in the funding processes delivered by UKRI.
This programme of work is intended to generate evidence on more effective ways of funding and supporting scientific research.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to tackle the proliferation of malign AI generated content farms.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the issue of information threats to national security very seriously, including threats posed by foreign states, and the use of AI and deepfakes. DSIT works closely across government and with social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle these risks.
DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) is focused on threats from foreign states, as well as risks emerging from the use of deepfakes to imitate elected leaders and interfere with elections and the use of bots to drive disinformation and fuel division.
The Online Safety Act will also address a range of threats posed by AI. The Act will force companies to take action against illegal content online, including illegal AI-generated content, and will require companies to take steps to remove this illegal content if they become aware of it on their services. This includes the Foreign Interference Offence, which has been added as a priority offence in the Act, forcing companies to remove a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked interference online.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle digital astroturfing on social media.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the range of tactics which could be employed to spread mis- and disinformation and the threat that these can pose. DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses coordinated attempts to artificially manipulate the online information environment, working with a range of partners, including social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle it.
Digital astroturfing, amongst other techniques sometimes used by state actors to interfere with UK society, will be captured by the Foreign Interference Offence. This has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act and will capture a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-backed operations. Companies will have a legal duty to take proactive action to prevent users from encountering material that amounts to an offence of Foreign Interference, which could include content linked to digital astroturfing, and minimise how long any such content is present on their services.
Under the Act, Ofcom’s Disinformation Advisory Committee is empowered to conduct research and build understanding on mis- and disinformation related issues, which may include the threats posed by digital astroturfing. In addition, Ofcom’s updated statutory duty to promote media literacy includes specific duties to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online, including by understanding the nature and impact of mis- and disinformation. This could include initiatives related to specific malicious tactics.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether British companies will have access to European Innovation Council funding for solutions to (a) bias and (b) discrimination in AI systems following the UK's re-admission to Horizon.
Answered by George Freeman
UK applicants will be able to participate in the full Horizon Europe programme and UK entities are eligible to receive grant funding through all instruments of the European Innovation Council. The UK is not part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund – which provides equity finance support to EIC Accelerator projects.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether representatives from (a) the Government and (b) British industry will attend the European AI, Data and Robotics Forum on 8 and 9 November 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
Given the proximity of the Safety Summit to the European AI, Data and Robotics Forum on 8 and 9 of November, the Government will not be sending any Ministers or officials to the event. However, both UK Government Ministers and officials participate in European technology-focused events, with an SCS-led official delegation attending the IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) Europe Data Protection Conference this November, which will seek to facilitate our EU data objectives.