The UK government should have the ability to disable powerful AI systems and the country’s data centres in the event that the technology poses a threat to national security, according to a proposal in the House of Lords.
A group of peers led by the Liberal Democrats’ Lord Tim Clement-Jones has proposed the measure as an amendment to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill currently being deliberated in Parliament.
Clement-Jones said the measure would allow the construction of a “vital safety net” and provide a democratically accountable mechanism to “halt a runaway system before it can compromise our critical national infrastructure”, adding it would only be used as a last resort.
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Labour MP Alex Sobel plans separately to introduce an AI Security Bill in Parliament on 8 September, with backing from campaign group ControlAI.
