UK AI regulation – AI Growth Labs announced

The UK has announced the launch of AI Growth Labs to “unlock new ways to accelerate innovation and cut bureaucracy in a safe environment” (here).  We summarise the key points here.

The press announcement explains briefly how it operates but we wait to see which sectors will see the first Labs and which regulators will oversee them:

Known as sandboxes, individual regulations are temporarily switched off or tweaked for a limited period of time in safe, controlled testing environments. They would initially be set up for key sectors of the economy like healthcare, professional services, transport, and the use of robotics in advanced manufacturing, to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI products. …

It would not be a testing ground where regulations could be switched on or switched off at will, but would see strict, time limited restrictions being put in place to set out which specific regulatory hurdles could be avoided or modified under close supervision. …

It will be overseen by tech and regulatory experts and backed up by a strict licensing scheme with strong safeguards, meaning any breaches of individual agreements, or the emergence of unacceptable risks would stop testing in its tracks and open users who have breached their terms up to potential fines. 

This is an approach pioneered in the UK by the FCA and adopted internationally. According to the press statement.

Internationally, countries are already using sandboxes to speed safe deployment. Jurisdictions such as the EU, USA, Japan, Estonia and Singapore have announced or implemented some form of regulatory sandbox for AI. The UK pioneered the global sandbox model with the launch of the FCA’s 2016 fintech sandbox - with transformative AI approaching, the UK must stay at the vanguard of international best practice in regulatory innovation – and the benefits this brings for UK innovation and jobs. 

Government's messaging is clearly trying to link AI regulation to what's on voters' minds:

More new homes, better outcomes for patients, and world-leading innovations are among the benefits people can expect to see from a new blueprint for AI regulation being announced today, as the government slashes bureaucracy and ramps up the safe adoption of AI to unlock its full potential.  

The AI Growth Labs should be seen in context:

• the press statement announces “a pot of £1 million is being set aside to support the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to pilot AI-assisted tools.” See further details on the New UK Commission to set regulatory rulebook for AI in healthcare here
• UK regulators are active. For example, the Digital Regulators Co-Operation Forum - a forum combining financial, competition, privacy, and energy regulators - announced the results of the first year's pilot of its AI & Digital Hub pilot to help businesses navigate issues which cut across regulators.  Also, the DRCF has recently launched a consultation on the regulatory approach to argentic AI (here).
• Government is developing other AI initiatives, such as the trusted third-party AI assurance roadmap (here), and as part of its AI Opportunities Action Plan (here).
• potential legal reform is on the horizon. Examples include the Law Commission's project on public sector use of algorithmic decision making (here) and raising questions such as ‘Should AI be given legal personality?’.

If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Martin Cook, Liz Griffiths, Kerry Berchem, or any other member in our Technology team.