Official name: A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation (white paper, March 2023) and its government response (February 2024)
Citation: White paper, 29 March 2023; government response, 6 February 2024
Year / status: Government policy, applied through existing regulators
What it does
In a white paper published on 29 March 2023, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Office for Artificial Intelligence set out how the UK government proposed to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). The framework rests on five cross-sector principles: safety, security and robustness; appropriate transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress. Existing regulators, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Competition and Markets Authority, interpret and apply the principles within their own remits. A public consultation on the proposals closed on 21 June 2023.
Where it applies / status
Rules for AI arrive through the guidance and enforcement of each sector’s regulator, using the powers each already has. For the small number of developers of highly capable general-purpose AI models, the response set out the case for targeted binding requirements in the future and said the government would legislate when it was confident that was the right thing to do. The principles build on the AI principles of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which the white paper cites.
Documented benefits or intended effects
The white paper issued the principles without legislation, arguing that new rigid and onerous rules could hold back innovation, and said the government expected to introduce a legal duty on regulators to have due regard to the principles once parliamentary time allowed. The government response of 6 February 2024 kept the approach without legislation for the time being, under review. It announced £10 million to build regulators’ AI capabilities, asked a number of regulators to publish their strategic approach to AI by 30 April 2024, and set up a central function in government to monitor risks and coordinate regulators.
Caveats
Both documents are government policy papers, and the principles have no legal force of their own and depend on each regulator’s powers, so gaps can remain where no regulator has a clear remit. GOV.UK marks both documents as published under the 2022 to 2024 Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak; later governments may have changed course, so the current GOV.UK pages are the place to check.
Sources
The white paper, its web-ready text, and the February 2024 government response.
- GOV.UK, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Office for Artificial Intelligence: AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach
- GOV.UK: A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation (web-ready PDF)
- GOV.UK, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: government response
- Wikimedia Commons: Whitehall from London Eye 2014 (photo)
