SINGAPORE – Countries need to work together to better understand ethical artificial intelligence , to develop and deploy frontier AI, and shape its safeguards, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, after attending the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit on Thursday.
It brought together governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and research experts to discuss the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, andPM Lee was invited by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and spoke about Singapore’s approach to AI development and its usage. On frontier AI, PM Lee said that countries need to work together for mutual security, even if competition is inevitable. Frontier AI refers to advanced AI systems that are still in their early stages of development, but have the potential to revolutionise many industries and aspects of people’s lives.
“While the main players are American, Chinese and European, this conversation on AI safety cannot just be amongst the few,” he said. “Small countries like Singapore, too, participate in AI research and deployment, and we too will certainly be affected by AI, including both its benefits its risks and downsides.
Other attendees included United States Vice-President Kamala Harris and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “However, future models are likely to improve on these dimensions. Even when AI systems appear to display high cognitive abilities, we cannot be sure that they will behave like, or take the same decisions as, humans.”