Kamala Harris launches US push to shape AI 'in the public interest'

Vice President in London speech says new tech could do 'profound good' and 'profound harm'

US Vice President Kamala Harris during a speech on artificial intelligence in central London. AFP

US Vice President Kamala Harris joined the battle to shape the future of artificial intelligence on Wednesday with a speech in London in which she said the technology could bring both “profound good” and “profound harm”.

A day before she joins a 27-country AI Safety Summit in Britain, Ms Harris set out a pitch for AI to be used according to global “rules and norms” in which machine-generated content is watermarked to guard against deception and disinformation.

Speaking at the US embassy in London with the slogan "AI: in service of the public interest" displayed behind her, she announced Washington would form an AI safety institute to test and scrutinise new tech - imitating a move last week by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who had billed Britain’s institute as a world first.

Ms Harris and Mr Sunak will have a private Downing Street dinner later with their respective partners Doug Emhoff and Akshata Murty. They will meet again on Thursday when the vice-presidential helicopter travels to Bletchley Park, the home of Second World War codebreaking and venue for the AI summit.

In another US-led initiative announced to an audience including Britain's former prime minister Theresa May, Ms Harris said 30 countries - including the UK, France and Morocco - had committed to responsible use of AI in the military, including autonomous weapons.

The UK summit is intended to put leading countries on the same page about AI’s risks with Mr Sunak trying to position Britain as a leader in the field, brushing off criticism to invite China in the hope of bringing it around a table with the US.

Ms Harris said US policies to use AI safely in government could likewise be a model for the world, at what she said history would show was the moment to "create a collective vision" for the technology's future.

"This is a moment of profound opportunity. The benefits of AI are immense," she said. "Let us work together to fulfil our duty to make sure artificial intelligence is in the service of the public interest."

While "AI has the potential to do profound good, it also has the potential to cause profound harm, from AI-enabled cyber attacks at a scale beyond anything we've seen before to AI-formulated bioweapons that could endanger the lives of millions of people," she said.

However, Ms Harris said the world should tackle the "full spectrum" of AI-related threats from doomsday scenarios to everyday harms, with a message that losing health access, being threatened by fake imagery or being wrongfully imprisoned due to faulty facial recognition would "feel existential" for those affected.

"We reject the false choice that suggests we can either protect the public or advance innovation. We can and we must do both. And we must do so swiftly, as this technology rapidly advances," she said.

The AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park - in pictures

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  British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greets US Vice President Kamala Harris on the second day of the UK's Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. Getty Images

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  British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly talks to an attendee. The summit is being attended by industry leaders and government officials. PA

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  Mr Sunak speaks with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. AFP

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  Mr Sunak welcomes Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. PA

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  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with Mr Sunak. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak arrives at Bletchley Park on day two of the summit. EPA

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  Michelle Donelan, front centre, UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with international digital ministers at the start of the AI Safety Summit. Getty Images

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  King Charles III addresses delegates in a recorded video message. AP

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  Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation, Georgii Dubynskyi, speaks to Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX, Tesla and X. Reuters

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  Ms Donelan with Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. AP

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  US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Getty Images

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  Mr Musk attends the first plenary session of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. PA

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  Ms Donelan greets Georgii Dubynskyi, Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation. PA

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  Wu Zhaohui, China's vice minister of science and technology, addresses the AI Safety Summit. Bloomberg

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  Bletchley Park, home of Britain's codebreakers during the Second World War, on the first day of the AI Safety Summit. Getty Images

A White House official said Ms Harris's speech was intended to "re-assert US global leadership on AI", with Washington seeking to "catalyse global action in a way that only the United States can".

They said Ms Harris's "core questions" for AI developers would include: "Whose biases are being written into the code? Whose interests are being served? Who reaps the reward of speedy adoption? Who suffers the harms most acutely? Who will be hurt if something goes wrong? Who has been at the table?".

Mr Sunak wants to show UK leadership in a crowded space in which Germany, France, Italy, the EU and the G7 countries have all set out their stall in the run-up to the summit at Bletchley Park.

The UK is touting itself as the home of the world’s third-biggest AI sector after the US and China, with Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan saying Britain’s new institute would “lead a global effort”. UK ministers last week released intelligence assessments that say AI could be used for cyber crime, terrorist recruitment and disinformation campaigns by 2025.