On January 6, 2021, the UK’s AI Council (an independent government advisory body) published its AI Roadmap (“Roadmap”). In addition to calling for a  Public Interest Data Bill to ‘protect against automation and collective harms’, the Roadmap acknowledges the need to counteract public suspicion of AI and makes 16 recommendations, based on three main pillars, to guide the UK Government’s AI strategy.

The UK is currently ranked third in the Global AI Index (an important Japanese interest in the recent UK-Japan Trade Agreement was the potential to combine UK expertise in this field with Japanese leadership in robotics). The UK Government views Brexit as an opportunity to cement the UK as a global leader in the use of AI.

However, the UK is unique amongst European countries in not having an AI Strategy. France has invested 1.5 billion Euros to 2022 and Germany 3.1 billion Euros. The EU is in the final stage of agreeing its new AI regulations.

The UK government recognizes that there is a need to corral its domestic expertise and focus it in order to maintain and maximize the UK’s competitive advantage in this sector. The UK published its AI Sector Deal in May 2019.

In April 2018, the House of Lords published its first report on AI in the UK, entitled ‘Ready, Willing & Able’. In December 2020, it published a follow-up report, which called on the Government to create a comprehensive AI Strategy. Other recommendations included:

  • The creation of the post of Chief Data Officer to act as champion for AI in the public sector.
  • Improvement of access to the internet and enhancement of the UK’s digital skills.
  • Identification of those industries most at risk from AI and the creation of national training schemes to support people to work alongside AI and automation.
  • Mandating the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) to create and publish national standards for the ethical development and deployment of AI.
  • Mandating the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to develop a training course for regulators to ensure their staff understand the ethical and appropriate use of public data and AI systems, and its opportunities and risks.
  • Ensuring that changes to the UK immigration rules promote the study, research and development of AI.

The UK AI Council recommendations in its AI Roadmap are set out below under their respective pillars.

Research, Development & Innovation

  1. Increase sustainable public sector investment in AI to create the best conditions for research and development. The Council recommends encouraging global talent and cross sector collaboration.
  2. Place The Alan Turing Institute at the centre of the UK’s AI activities, with sustainable funding and encouraging cross-UK and regional investment.
  3. Mainstream AI into all UK ‘moonshot’ programmes to ensure they advance and leverage the UK’s AI expertise.

Skills and Diversity

  1. Create a sustainable programme of high-level AI skill-building, including research fellowships, PhDs, Master’s degrees and apprenticeships.
  2. Ensure that diversity and inclusion are priorities in all AI programmes.
  3. Promote general AI and data literacy for the general public, including through the creation of an Online Academy for understanding AI.

Data, Infrastructure and Public Trust

  1. Improve the infrastructure needed for AI to access data, including investment in data-drive organisations and creating general principles for safe use of data.
  2. Develop best-in-class data governance standards.
  3. Create public scrutiny methodologies to promote public trust in AI .
  4. Position the UK as a global leader in good governance of AI, and enhance bilateral cooperation with key AI nations. Leverage the UK’s role as a founding member of the Global Partnership for AI (“GPAI”).

National, Cross-sector Adoption

  1. Increase consumer confidence in AI and broaden AI reach into the UK economy.
  2. Provide greater support to UK AI startups, including through better access to funding, data, infrastructure and skills.
  3. Increase public sector capability in the use of AI and integrate it into public investment and works.
  4. Maximise the use of AI in addressing climate change, including through improved access to data and governance.
  5. Use AI to enhance national security, enabling the Government to better respond to national defence and security threats.
  6. Improve the use of AI in healthcare and maximize the UK’s use and sharing of data for SMEs.

The UK Government is currently considering its response to the AI Council’s recommendations and a draft strategy will be published for consultation later this year.

Covington will keep clients up-dated on these and other policy developments in the UK’s AI sector.

The Firm has written a number of articles about the use of AI in healthcare in the UK—see, for example blog on the UK Parliament Research Briefing on AI in the UK healthcare system

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Photo of Thomas Reilly Thomas Reilly

Ambassador Thomas Reilly, Covington’s Head of UK Public Policy and a key member of the firm’s Global Problem Solving Group and Brexit Task Force, draws on over 20 years of diplomatic and commercial roles to advise clients on their strategic business objectives.

Ambassador…

Ambassador Thomas Reilly, Covington’s Head of UK Public Policy and a key member of the firm’s Global Problem Solving Group and Brexit Task Force, draws on over 20 years of diplomatic and commercial roles to advise clients on their strategic business objectives.

Ambassador Reilly was most recently British Ambassador to Morocco between 2017 and 2020, and prior to this, the Senior Advisor on International Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs and Head of Government Relations at Royal Dutch Shell between 2012 and 2017. His former roles with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office included British Ambassador Morocco & Mauritania (2017-2018), Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Egypt (2010-2012), Deputy Head of the Climate Change & Energy Department (2007-2009), and Deputy Head of the Counter Terrorism Department (2005-2007). He has lived or worked in a number of countries including Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Argentina.

At Covington, Ambassador Reilly works closely with our global team of lawyers and investigators as well as over 100 former diplomats and senior government officials, with significant depth of experience in dealing with the types of complex problems that involve both legal and governmental institutions.

Ambassador Reilly started his career as a solicitor specialising in EU and commercial law but no longer practices as a solicitor.

Photo of Sam Jungyun Choi Sam Jungyun Choi

Recognized by Law.com International as a Rising Star (2023), Sam Jungyun Choi is an associate in the technology regulatory group in Brussels. She advises leading multinationals on European and UK data protection law and new regulations and policy relating to innovative technologies, such…

Recognized by Law.com International as a Rising Star (2023), Sam Jungyun Choi is an associate in the technology regulatory group in Brussels. She advises leading multinationals on European and UK data protection law and new regulations and policy relating to innovative technologies, such as AI, digital health, and autonomous vehicles.

Sam is an expert on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act, having advised on these laws since they started to apply. In recent years, her work has evolved to include advising companies on new data and digital laws in the EU, including the AI Act, Data Act and the Digital Services Act.

Sam’s practice includes advising on regulatory, compliance and policy issues that affect leading companies in the technology, life sciences and gaming companies on laws relating to privacy and data protection, digital services and AI. She advises clients on designing of new products and services, preparing privacy documentation, and developing data and AI governance programs. She also advises clients on matters relating to children’s privacy and policy initiatives relating to online safety.