While in Seoul for the Summit for Democracy, a U.S initiative, the British deputy PM, Oliver Dowden on Monday announced what he hopes will be a “groundbreaking” new global government compact on countering deceptive use of artificial intelligence by foreign states in elections.
He said, Democratic countries around the world should band together to confront the threat of AI used by malign states to threaten free elections and spread misinformation.
During an interview at the UK embassy, he said, “What the UK is leading on is a government-led process, a government-led agreement to tackle the threat from AI from foreign states,”
While the UK is battling a debate over an edited photograph of Kate, Princess of Wales, for which she apologized after several leading news organizations withdrew the picture citing post-publication analysis that showed it did not meet editorial standards.
Dowden stated, the incident is “totally separate” from the misinformation risks from “malign foreign states” seeking to interfere in democratic elections.
While citing how major technology companies agreed at the Munich Security Conference in February to coordinate responses to AI-generated deepfakes that deliberately trick voters, Dowden said it is time for governments to follow suit.
“For me the number one threat to democracy right now is the war that’s going on in Ukraine,” he said. “That’s why I think the discussions going on today have that added edge, because of the threats we face to democracy right now.”