Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

AI and Diplomacy

Tuesday 13 June 2023 · 8 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 6 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department has assessed that artificial intelligence can bring significant economic and social benefits but also risks that require global cooperation to manage.
  • The UK plans to launch a global AI safety summit to discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI, seeking international cooperation on governance and regulation.
  • The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is collaborating with national security departments to address potential adversarial use of AI by nations like Russia and China.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 James Duddridge Con
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

Discussion around the potential transformative effects of AI on international relations and diplomatic operations.

Question

What recent assessment has the Department made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on diplomacy?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Artificial intelligence can bring huge economic and social benefits for the UK and our global partners. We are working with key partners to embrace the opportunities of AI, as well as seeking global co-operation on managing the risks. AI will present significant new opportunities to revolutionise how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office operates, and how it delivers impactful diplomatic and development outcomes across the globe.

Answered
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Q2 Luke Evans Con Hinckley and Bosworth
Science & Technology
Context

Advancements in AI technology are occurring at an unprecedented pace, necessitating a globally agreed regulatory framework to manage risks.

Question

Since I delivered my speech written by AI in the House in December, we have moved on to the fourth iteration of ChatGPT. Advancements are happening at such pace that we need to build a regulatory framework to prevent a similar situation to the one we find ourselves in with the internet: 20 years on, we are trying to police it. What is my right hon. Friend doing to pull the world together around a globally agreed framework on AI?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

I did not have the pleasure of hearing my hon. Friend's ChatGPT-written speech, but I shall definitely look it up and see just how good it was. On 7 June, the Prime Minister, who was in the USA with President Biden, announced plans for the UK to launch the first global AI safety summit, so that we can do exactly what my hon. Friend says: try to tackle the challenge of agreeing safety measures, in order to evaluate and monitor the most significant risks from AI. The FCDO will engage with key international partners to deliver the Prime Minister's ambition for the summit.

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Q3 Paul Holmes Con Hamble Valley
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

The UK and the US have agreed to take a coordinated approach towards emerging technologies, including AI.

Question

It was good to see the Prime Minister visit Washington last week to continue building our relationship with the United States. Will the Minister outline how we will work with the United States to ensure that the AI summit that was agreed to can be a success under UK leadership?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The Prime Minister and President Biden agreed that the UK and US would take a co-ordinated approach to the opportunities and challenges of the emerging tech that we see around us, such as AI. The UK welcomes early support from the US on the global summit on AI safety, which we will lead. We will work very closely with the US, and of course other international partners, to ensure that we deliver an important step forward on this issue.

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Q4 James Duddridge Con
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

The potential risks of artificial intelligence are significant, particularly in the context of international competition.

Question

AI represents a massive opportunity across a number of sectors, including in the diplomatic sphere, but we must recognise that there are risks. Specifically, what is the Foreign Office doing to counter the potential efforts in this space of Russia and China, which may use artificial intelligence to undermine British interests overseas?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Global co-operation will be vital to ensure that AI technologies and the rules governing their use are developed in the right way, and are aligned with our values of openness and freedom. The FCDO is working with departments across the UK's national security ecosystem, including the National Cyber Security Centre, to ensure that we contribute to and benefit from advances in AI, while making sure that we increase our resilience against, and reduce the risk from, any threats that we face. We hope to have as many leading nations as possible involved in the AI summit.

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Q5 Peter Grant SNP
Science & Technology
Context

Collaboration across borders is essential to establish effective global guidelines for artificial intelligence.

Question

The opportunities of AI are global, but so are the threats. It is obvious that significant co-ordination and co-operation in scientific research will be essential. In that context, could the Minister explain how cutting ourselves off from the world's biggest scientific research programme helps the United Kingdom?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The hon. Gentleman is right: we absolutely all see the huge potential of AI, but we must not be complacent about the risks. That is why the UK, in leading the AI summit and bringing together all parties from around the world, will ensure that we establish world-leading governance and regulation, so that we can take the opportunities while ensuring public safety and trust.

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Q6 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

There is a need to ensure that all advances in artificial intelligence are thoroughly scrutinized to safeguard the well-being of UK citizens.

Question

Never! Humour aside, may I thank the Minister very much for her response? It has been quite positive. Given that artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on international relations, will she provide reassurance that all AI advances must and will be scrutinised to a greater extent, for the safety of the people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Mr Speaker, I assume that your reference was to the hon. Member's great intelligence, because that is what artificial intelligence is demonstrating it can be. It is always a joy to support what he says and answer his questions, and he is exactly right: by working through those international relationships, with the UK driving things and holding that really important leadership role, we want to be able to bring countries together through bilateral engagement, using the many multinational fora out there to really ensure that we are tackling and understanding those threats. We need to provide an environment in which, as AI develops, we can maintain oversight while ensuring that we take advantage of opportunities that will bring economic prosperity. I look at the work that we are doing across the world, and I see how it can assist developing countries to safely leapfrog ahead with technologies in so many ways.

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Q7 Stephen Doughty Labour (Co-op) Cardiff South and Penarth
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

Concerns about oversight of AI models such as GPT-4 and the access policies for these technologies in the FCDO.

Question

We have all seen how hybrid warfare has been used against this country and our allies in recent years, and of course AI systems could pose new cyber and information threats as well as providing economic and social opportunities. We have already called on the Government to close gaps in the AI White Paper by introducing proper oversight of models such as GPT-4, and I have raised with Ministers the specific issue of whether access is allowed in the FCDO. I was told that access was not permitted on FCDO corporate systems, but that further guidance was being developed. Has that guidance now been issued, and are FCDO staff currently able to access AI systems on personal devices, for example? What safety protocols are in place?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

If I may, I will write to the hon. Gentleman, because I do not have the latest information on that issue.

Not addressed: No specific details provided about access policies or safety protocols for AI systems within FCDO.

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Q8 Drew Hendry SNP
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

The question addresses the ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence, specifically in diplomatic contexts. It seeks a commitment regarding AI collaboration with countries that respect human rights and abide by international laws.

Question

As we have heard, artificial intelligence presents opportunities but also threats, many of which are impossible to quantify at this time. That is as true in AI diplomacy as in anything else, so at the world's first major AI conference, will the UK Government commit to developing and facilitating AI only with countries that respect human rights and will obey the rules of international law?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

As we bring the world together at the AI summit in the autumn, we want to have discussions with all our international partners about what the rules of the road need to be. The UK Government are absolutely going to be leading on making sure that the facilitation of AI in every sphere of our lives takes place within a framework that provides safety and gives trust to both our citizens and the rest of the world.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific commitment regarding only collaborating with countries that respect human rights and follow international laws was not provided

How: Discussions With All Partners, Rules Of The Road Need To Be

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