The UK can lead the way with AI by balancing regulatory oversight and innovation

The UK, the US, Israel and the EU signed the first international treaty on artificial intelligence (AI) in September. Under the legally binding agreement, national states must implement safeguards against any threats posed by AI to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

While this is a welcome step towards establishing international standards for AI governance, there is still a glaring gap between the rapid pace of AI innovation and governments' ability to regulate the technology. This poses significant risks to democracies and individuals, and at the core of these risks lies data.

The nations that lead the way in safe AI adoption will be the ones that reap the biggest benefits of the technology. To realise its ambition to become a global AI superpower, the UK needs to get the balancing act between providing regulatory oversight and encouraging innovation right. This would require establishing clear AI policies that ...