Ahead of the upcoming General Election on the 4th of July, Curia’s Foreign Policy Director, Robert Clark, had an important conversation with Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Clement Jones. Jones mostly discussed the future of AI and tech in the UK, with a focus on artificial intelligence in weaponry. In this conversation, Jones provided us at Curia with some fascinating insight into the work he has been doing to push for crucial legislation on the future of artificial intelligence in the UK and around the world. Lord Clement Jones is the Lib Dem spokesperson Science Innovation and Technology and recently undertook work with a select committee on AI in weaponry.
The House of Lords’ Inquiry into AI
As the former Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on AI and the current Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on artificial intelligence, Jones is an expert on the subject of its use in weaponry. Jones explained that he and his committee have recently undertaken an inquiry into AI, legislation and the impact on defence, security and weapons systems.
As a part of the inquiry Jones worked with a number of experts to best inform the inquiry’s recommendations to the Government such as civil society organisations, the military and Government ministers such as the Procurement minister, James Cartlidge. As a part of the committee’s research, Jones also visited Brussels, Belgium to look at university research into weaponry and future technologies.
Despite all this though, the Lib Dem peer recounts his visit to Strategic Command in Northwood as the most interesting for the inquiry. It was here that Jones and the committee discussed the importance of making international humanitarian law work when using artificial intelligence weaponry.
Managing the Future of AI and Autonomous Weapons Systems
One of the key talking points of our interview with Lord Clement Jones was on Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS). AWS are becoming more common and are likely to play a lead role in the future of weaponry due to ever advancing technology which now includes artificial intelligence.
Jones’ committee made a number of requests to the Government about AWS, largely concerning how to ‘guardrail’ them and artificial intelligence tech in weaponry. The committee called for a clearly set definition of AWS from the Government in order to have better clarity of what AWS are and what they can be in the future. Unfortunately for Jones though, the Government rejected this proposal. The Government claimed that the speed of change in AI technology could be a hurdle in attempting to define AWS.
Jones criticised the Government for this, stressing the need for clarity on a highly sensitive issue like AWS. The Government also come across somewhat contradictory here, as NATO recently set out their definition of ‘autonomous’ in regard to artificial intelligence technology. Of course, being a part of NATO, the UK will have had their input into this. So, Jones asks the question of why this has been defined but AWS hasn’t?
The Importance of an Human Approach
Another element of the Lords committee’s inquiry was the need for an ethical approach to the future of AI in weaponry. One of the demands of Jones and his committee was for there to be ‘meaningful human involvement’ at every stage of use of AWS. Whilst Jones did note that the Government were more receptive to this idea, he criticised them for not being clearer in response to the need for an ethical approach.
The need for a substantiated and defined ethical approach comes from the need to better understand and plan in relation to the direct and indirect consequences of using AWS. Jones argues that this is vital in ensuring the correct use of AWS in line with British and international humanitarian law. Jones also called for commonality with the EU on artificial intelligence legislation.
The Approaches of UK Politics to AI
Jones also laid out his hopes for the Lib Dems to spend more on research and development (R & D) and to work more with universities across the country to improve research on a range of issues.
As well as this though, the former Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on AI did express his belief that the Labour Party are more likely to act upon the recommendations of his committee on artificial intelligence and AWS. More specifically, he surmised that the Labour front bench were keen on these recommendations and that even if not directly in their manifesto, they would act progressively on it.
Jones also emphasised the need for any new legislation on artificial intelligence to be under constant review, with appropriate moderations being made constantly due to what he described as AI’s ‘shapeshifting quality’. Paired with this of course comes the need to adapt humanitarian law to artificial intelligence which Jones also saw to be integral to a future of the technology working safely and in tandem with society for the better.
In his calls for more regulation on artificial intelligence, Jones also criticised the Conservatives on their view that regulation is a barrier to innovation. As this article has already mentioned, Jones is keen on ‘guard railing’, with regulating in a way that encourages AI to be for the benefit of people in the UK.
The Future of AI in Britain
So, Lord Clement Jones’ stances on the future of artificial intelligence legislation and its use in weaponry are clear. With the likelihood of a change in Government upon us, the nation will watch as the Government navigates the technology. Self-proclaimed ‘tech-optimist’ Jones believes that regionality will be key in the successful regulation and implementation of artificial intelligence in the UK.
Final Thoughts
Please find the full interview below or through our YouTube page:
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