04 July 2024

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rise at an exponential rate and with regulation at the forefront of many minds, todays UK General Election could prove to be a turning point.

This article sets out a brief overview of the parties’ plans in respect of tech and AI, as per their manifestos.

Conservatives:

The current government has adopted a more flexible approach to AI Regulation, having chosen not to tightly regulate. Instead, the government opted for a principles-based, non-statutory approach to regulation, empowering regulators to devise bespoke approaches to regulation. This is a starkly different approach to that taken by the EU who have opted to regulate AI through the recently passed EU AI Act. Please see our previous blog (here) for more information on the two approaches.

At the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, struck a voluntary agreement with leading AI firms, including Google and OpenAI, to cooperate on testing AI models before and after deployment. It is important to highlight, however, that this cooperation remains entirely voluntary.

The Conservatives’ manifesto does not comment on AI regulation and so it is unclear whether they intend to continue with their approach. However, a recent report by the Financial Times suggests that they may be in the process of drafting new legislation to formally regulate AI. Although there is no clear understanding of what this legislation will cover, it is thought that it will mandate companies developing the most sophisticated models of AI to share their technology with the government and provide evidence that they have carried out safety testing.

Labour:

The Labour party seeks to take a different approach to the government and would look to implement stronger regulation and an overarching regulatory framework. Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, suggested that legislators and regulators had been “behind the curve” on social media and highlighted Labour’s desire to ensure the same mistake was not made in relation to AI.

Labour would replace voluntary agreements on cooperation and testing with a statutory regime requiring “the handful of AI companies developing the most powerful AI tools” to share their test data and would create a Regulatory Innovation Office as an overarching organisation to “help regulators to update regulation, speed up approval timelines and co-ordinate issues that span existing boundaries”. 

Labour has not, however, made any indication that it intends to diverge from the Conservatives current sectoral approach to regulation.

Liberal Democrats:

The Liberal Democrats put technology regulation at the core of their election manifesto with an aim to bring UK AI regulation more in line with that of the EU.

They have promised a “clear, workable and well-resourced” cross-sectoral regulatory framework for AI that would: promote innovation; create certainty for AI users, developers and investors; establish transparency and accountability of AI systems in the public sector and; ensure the use of personal data and AI is transparent, accurate, unbiased and respectful of privacy.   

Additionally, the Liberal Democrats have pledged to work with international partners to create common standards in relation to AI risk assessment, impact assessment, monitoring and testing.

Green Party:

The Green Party manifesto takes a “precautionary regulatory approach” to the use of AI and seeks to bring the UK approach to regulation in line with that of the EU, meaning the introduction of a cross-sectoral statutory regime based on the risk posed by the AI systems.

The Green Party is the only major party in the UK election that have suggested aligning our regulatory approach to that of the EU and is the only party to have considered the IP protection of the creators, pledging that it would ensure AI “does not erode the value of human creativity”.

Conclusion

With none of the major parties agreed on the correct approach to AI regulation, the outcome of the general election could be significant to the tech and creative industries. It is, however, unlikely that regulation in AI will be given priority regardless of the outcome and so it may be some time before we see any movement in the regulatory landscape.

Lynn Richmond, Partner & Accredited Specialist in Intellectual Property: lyr@bto.co.uk / 0131 222 2939

Amy Campbell, Trainee Solicitor: aca@bto.co.uk / 0141 221 8012