Committee on Standards in Public Life: Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards: report
R20-4
Response position Partially accepted
Published February 2020
Response position and delivery status are recorded separately. Acceptance does not establish implementation.
Recommendation (the Committee's words)
Given the speed of development and implementation of AI, we recommend that there is a regulatory assurance body, which identifies gaps in the regulatory landscape and provides advice to individual regulators and government on the issues associated with AI. We do not recommend the creation of a specific AI regulator, and recommend that all existing regulators should consider and respond to the regulatory requirements and impact of the growing use of AI in the fields for which they have responsibility. The Committee endorses the government’s intention for CDEI to perform a regulatory assurance role. The government should act swiftly to clarify the overall purpose of CDEI before setting it on an independent statutory footing.
From: Committee on Standards in Public Life, Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards: report, February 2020
Government response
Government response (the government's words)
The future functions of the CDEI were consulted on in late 2020 as part of the National Data Strategy. The responses are being analysed and advice will go to ministers on the future functions and governance of the CDEI in April 2021.
The future functions set out in the National Data Strategy were: AI monitoring, partnership working, and testing potential interventions in the tech space. Whether a change to statutory status would support the CDEI to deliver its remit was also consulted on.
The AI monitoring function will provide expert-horizon scanning to identify the barriers to ethical innovation and to monitor public attitudes. Partnership working will involve working with a range of public and private sector organisations to address specific barriers to responsible innovation at an operational level, and to scale these tools and methodologies to other organisations. In addition, we are planning to ask the CDEI to build on its existing independent status to provide more practical support for the technical development of potential interventions in the tech space.
In order to identify regulatory gaps, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Ofcom have together formed a Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to support regulatory coordination in digital markets and cooperation on areas of mutual importance, and enable coherent, informed and responsive regulation of the UK digital economy which serves citizens and consumers and enhances the global impact and position of the UK.
Further, the ICO, Alan Turing Institute, CDEI and Office for AI have agreed to work together to develop, roll out and monitor training for regulators on issues around AI.
Finally, the Office for AI, CDEI, and ICO and other regulators also sit on a larger Regulators and AI working group, comprising 32 regulators and other organisations. This forum will be used to discuss how to take forward the recommendations made in the report, forming a special sub-group chaired by the ICO with active membership from the CDEI, Office for AI, Alan Turing Institute, and key regulators. They will identify gaps, consider training needs and make recommendations.
The future functions set out in the National Data Strategy were: AI monitoring, partnership working, and testing potential interventions in the tech space. Whether a change to statutory status would support the CDEI to deliver its remit was also consulted on.
The AI monitoring function will provide expert-horizon scanning to identify the barriers to ethical innovation and to monitor public attitudes. Partnership working will involve working with a range of public and private sector organisations to address specific barriers to responsible innovation at an operational level, and to scale these tools and methodologies to other organisations. In addition, we are planning to ask the CDEI to build on its existing independent status to provide more practical support for the technical development of potential interventions in the tech space.
In order to identify regulatory gaps, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Ofcom have together formed a Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to support regulatory coordination in digital markets and cooperation on areas of mutual importance, and enable coherent, informed and responsive regulation of the UK digital economy which serves citizens and consumers and enhances the global impact and position of the UK.
Further, the ICO, Alan Turing Institute, CDEI and Office for AI have agreed to work together to develop, roll out and monitor training for regulators on issues around AI.
Finally, the Office for AI, CDEI, and ICO and other regulators also sit on a larger Regulators and AI working group, comprising 32 regulators and other organisations. This forum will be used to discuss how to take forward the recommendations made in the report, forming a special sub-group chaired by the ICO with active membership from the CDEI, Office for AI, Alan Turing Institute, and key regulators. They will identify gaps, consider training needs and make recommendations.
From: HM Government. Source document ↗