UK AI Standards Hub launched as part of UK AI strategy

The UK is to pilot an AI Standards Hub to "create practical tools for business, bring the UK's AI community together... and develop education materials to help organisations develop and benefit from global standards".  The standards hub is part of the UK's AI strategy (which we wrote about here) in particular to "ensure the UK gets the national and international governance of AI technologies right" (pillar 3).

The standards will be developed by the BSI (British Standards Institute; the UK's National Standards Body) and NPL (the UK's National Metrology Institute), alongside the Alan Turing Institute (the national institute for data science and AI).

The hub will focus on:

• growing UK engagement to develop global AI standards;
• creating tools and guidance for education, training and professional development to help organisations engage with creating AI technical standards and collaborate globally on those standards;
• explore international collaboration with similar initiatives to ensure the develop technical standards are shaped by a wide range of experts and in line with shared values.

The pilot follows similar moves to create practical steps to ensure that AI is governed effectively.  For example:

• the launch of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation's roadmap to an effective AI assurance ecosystem (which we wrote about here);
• the UK's Cabinet Office's Central and Digital and Data Office publishing an algorithmic transparency standard (which we wrote about here);
• and is in the context of ongoing discussions internationally about how AI should be governed and regulated (for example, in the EU's proposed AI Act which we wrote about here).

We expect that the standards will be kept under review and develop as national and international collaboration develops. In other words, watch this space.

This article was written by Tom Whittaker and David Varney.

The move kicks off one part of the UK’s new National AI Strategy, a ten-year plan to strengthen the country’s position as a global science superpower and “harness AI to transform the economy and society while leading governance and standards to ensure everyone benefits”.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-uk-initiative-to-shape-global-standards-for-artificial-intelligence