Development of a new AI Standards Hub which will help shape global technical standards for artificial intelligence will be led by the Alan Turing Institute, with support from the British Standards Institution and metrology institute the National Physical Laboratory.
The Hub is a government backed pilot initiative which forms part of the National AI Strategy, a ten year plan to put the UK at the forefront of the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence. Key objectives will include working to improve the governance of AI, complementing pro-innovation regulation and helping to unlock the anticipated economic potential of AI technologies.
The announcement comes as new research published by the government finds that more than 1.3 million UK businesses will use AI by 2040, and spending on AI is expected to reach more than £200 billion by the same date. Last year, businesses spent around £63 billion on AI technology.
“International standards are set to play an increasingly crucial enabling role in the adoption and effective governance of AI technologies,” said the Alan Turing Institute’s director and chief executive Adrian Smith. “Given our place at the heart of the UK’s thriving AI ecosystem, I am delighted to see the Turing identified as the home of this important new initiative.”
He added: “We look forward to working closely with our partners in establishing the AI Standards Hub, leveraging our expertise and networks to build and engage an inclusive, multi-stakeholder community around AI standardisation.”
In its pilot phase, the new hub will focus on the following activities:
- Growing UK engagement to develop global AI standards by bringing together information about technical standards and development initiatives in an accessible, user friendly and inclusive way;
- Bringing the AI community together through workshops, events and a new online platform to encourage more coordinated engagement in the development of standards around the world;
- Creating tools and guidance for education, training and professional development to help businesses and other organisations engage with creating AI technical standards, and collaborate globally to develop these standards;
- Exploring international collaboration with similar initiatives to ensure the development of technical standards are shaped by a wide range of AI experts, in line with shared values.
Plans to create the AI Standards Hub follow the launch of the Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation’s ‘roadmap to an effective AI assurance ecosystem’, which sets out the steps needed to verify AI systems and accelerate adoption. Technical standards are considered vital for enabling effective AI assurance because they give organisations a common basis for verifying AI.
BSI’s director general Scott Steedman said: “International standards are a vital tool to help unlock the economic potential of AI, including establishing a common language for all to use. BSI, as the National Standards Body is ideally placed to convene the AI community in the UK to identify and develop good practices for the development, governance and use of AI technologies that will be internationally recognised.
“We look forward to working closely with government, industry, academia, consumer interest groups and our international standards network to ensure that UK-led, globally relevant standards, will underpin and foster the future of AI.”
National Physical Laboratory CEO Dr Peter Thompson added: “I am delighted that, following the recommendations made in the National AI Strategy last year, we are now launching the UK’s International AI Standards hub pilot. This coordinated UK effort will strengthen our world leading position and is an important step in supporting research and innovators in this area as well as providing a layer of confidence to those using and interacting with AI.”