AI Safety agreement welcomed, but does it go far enough?

As 16 world leading technology companies sign a new AI safety agreement at the AI Safety Summit in Seoul this week, RSM UK asks whether it will be enough to give UK businesses confidence in AI safety.

Ben Bilsland, partner and head of technology industry at RSM UK, said: ‘It’s encouraging to see world nations and global technology companies including Meta, Google and OpenAI sign up to this voluntary new agreement which prioritises AI safety. We know lots of businesses are concerned about what mass adoption of AI tools might mean for the safety of their people, now and in the future, so this agreement is a positive step in the right direction. 

‘Our latest Real Economy Report found nearly half (44%) of middle market businesses are concerned about AI enabled cyber-attacks in 2024, so it’s great to see that the UK Government is a frontrunner in establishing AI safety initiatives. However, this is only the first step on a long road ahead, as clear legal and regulatory frameworks will need to evolve globally to give this pledge more teeth. It will be interesting to see how the next stage unfolds at the AI Action Summit in France.’