February 28, 2024

UK Versus EU: Who Has A Better Policy Approach To AI?

The United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) are taking different approaches to regulating artificial intelligence (AI). In October, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took the opportunity to share his government’s views on AI governance. According to him, the UK will take the risks associated with AI seriously but will not “rush to regulate” the technology. In contrast, the EU has taken steps to regulate AI, most notably with the advancement of its AI Act, a comprehensive regulation that covers various use cases.

Whose approach to AI governance is better? Thus far, it has been the United Kingdom. The UK’s framework is less rigid, allowing for firms to innovate more quickly while also giving the government flexibility to respond to societal risks as they arise.

The EU’s policy in this area is prone to sacrificing innovation for the sake of a hypothetical future.

Currently, the British plan is to regulate AI sector-by-sector, if needed, rather than applying rules to an entire class of technology. In practice, the British government is building its AI vision on a simple concept: “We will not assign rules or risk levels to entire sectors or technologies. Instead, we will regulate based on the outcomes AI is likely to generate in particular applications.” This means enforcing existing laws that may be relevant to AI development and deployment, as needed, in areas like healthcare and law enforcement, along with creating new rules that the government deems necessary.

Read the full article from Tech Policy Press.

  • Commentary
    • October 30, 2024
    Sharper: Emerging Technology

    Emerging technologies are reshaping U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. These technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for growth, but also introduce na...

    By Hilal Aka & Charles Horn

  • Commentary
    • Foreign Policy
    • October 24, 2024
    America Needs Clear Standards for China Tech Decoupling

    This broad, virtually unchecked authority to ban Chinese apps and products resembles more of a loaded gun than a considered policy....

    By Vivek Chilukuri

  • Podcast
    • October 22, 2024
    What Is ‘Sovereign AI’ Anyway?

    Pablo Chavez, Adjunct Senior Fellow with CNAS's Technology and National Security Program, joins POLITICO Tech to discuss how the term “sovereign AI” gets thrown around a lot i...

    By Pablo Chavez

  • Podcast
    • October 17, 2024
    U.S. Chip Controls and the Future of AI Compute

    That escalated quickly! Emily and Geoff discuss why the U.S. aim to deny China access to the computing power necessary for frontier AI capabilities has led to an ever expandin...

    By Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz & Pablo Chavez

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia