New AI standards hub launched in UK

This week the government launched a new AI standards initiative as part of its AI strategy (see my blog from last September for information on the strategy generally). New research predicts that AI use in business is expected to double in the next twenty years and standards are seen as a vital tool in ensuring the responsible adoption, and effective governance, of AI solutions.

The Alan Turing Institute, the national institute for data science and AI, has been selected to lead the pilot of a new AI Standards hub, supported by the British Standards Institution and National Physical Laboratory (the UK’s national metrology institute). The hub is designed to increase the UK’s contribution to the development of global AI technical standards and will work to improve the governance of AI amongst other things.

In its pilot phase, the new hub will focus on:

• Increasing the UK’s engagement in developing global AI standards by bringing together information about technical standards and development initiatives in an accessible, user-friendly way.
• Bringing the AI community together through workshops, events and a new online platform to encourage more coordinated engagement in the development of standards in different jurisdictions.
• Creating tools and guidance to help businesses and other organisations engage with creating AI technical standards.
• Exploring international collaboration initiatives

The launch of this pilot follows a number of other key developments actioned as part of the UK’s AI Strategy, including the IPOs consultation on dealing with AI in relation to patents and copyright and the recent launch of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s roadmap to effective AI assurance ecosystem (see our blog).