US and the UK sign agreement on AI safety testing

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Context

• Following through commitments made at the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit last year, the United States and the United Kingdom on Monday (April 1) signed an agreement that would see them work together to develop tests for the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Details of the agreement

• As part of the partnership, both countries will work to align their scientific approaches and work closely to accelerate and rapidly iterate robust suites of evaluations for AI models, systems, and agents.
• Both countries will share vital information about the capabilities and risks associated with AI models and systems, according to the agreement, which has taken effect immediately.
• They will also share fundamental technical research on AI safety and security with each other, and work on aligning their approach towards safely deploying AI systems.
• The US and the UK AI Safety Institutes have also laid out plans to build a common approach to AI safety testing and to share their capabilities to ensure these risks can be tackled effectively.
• Both countries have also committed to develop similar partnerships with other countries to promote AI safety across the globe.
• Since last year, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the US has separately started consultation on the risks, benefits and potential policy related to dual-use foundation models with widely available weights — parameters that AI models learn during training and processing which help them make decisions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines that can think like humans. It can do things that are considered "smart." AI technology can process large amounts of data in ways, unlike humans. The goal for AI is to be able to do things such as recognize patterns, make decisions, and judge like humans. The ideal characteristic of AI is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. A subset of AI is Machine Learning (ML).

Government initiatives regarding artificial intelligence in India:

• National Programme on Artificial Intelligence:
  • This was announced as a part of Interim Budget 2019. Along with this the National Centre on Artificial Intelligence as a hub and 6 centres of excellence will be established.
• National strategy for AI:
  • The National strategy on Artificial Intelligence has identified 5 sectors for AI application to serve societal needs- Healthcare, Agriculture, Education, Smart cities and infrastructure and Smart mobility and transportation.
• Task Force on Artificial Intelligence:
  • This Task Force has recommended an Inter-Ministerial National Artificial Intelligence Mission to act as a nodal agency for coordinating AI related activities in India.
• National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS):
  • It is a programme led by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology & Earth Science to enhance capabilities of the cyber-physical systems. Rs. 5 crore was allotted in Budget 2019 for the mission.

India's Other Initiatives Related to Artificial Intelligence are:

• INDIAai.
• Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).
• US India Artificial Intelligence Initiative.
• Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Youth.
• Artificial Intelligence Research, Analytics and Knowledge Assimilation Platform.

 

Conclusion

• Although AI systems offer opportunities, they pose a significant threat to a number of societal set-ups, from misinformation to election integrity.
• Countries should work closely towards tackling the challenges of AI as the world is figuring out a way to set guardrails around the fast proliferation of AI systems.

Sources:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/us-uk-agreement-ai-safety-testing-9248773/

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs) With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (2020) Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units Create meaningful short stories and songs Disease diagnosis Text-to-Speech Conversion Wireless transmission of electrical energy Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only (b) 1, 3 and 4 only (c) 2, 4 and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Answer- D