British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the United Nations that the country was prepared to lead international efforts to establish artificial intelligence standards, warning that rapid advances in the technology could outpace existing safeguards and increase national security risks.
“We’ve all heard the warnings – which we must heed,” he said in his inaugural speech to the United Nations General Assembly. “I know how worried people are. So we have to rise to this moment.”
At his first multinational meeting in New York as Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, Burnham made artificial intelligence a central part of his push to restore the country’s influence on the global stage.
He said Britain should avoid becoming a “doom-monger” over AI and instead pursue the technology’s potential benefits while recognising its risks.
These include safeguards failing to keep pace with rapid development and hostile actors using AI to conduct information warfare.
“Russian agencies have used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fears,” he said.
“They’ve used bots and fake websites. Falsified newspaper articles. Forged the branding of 28 British organisations – including universities and the BBC. They’ve amplified far right narratives. And we have evidence that they tried to interfere with the 2019 General Election.”
Russia has rejected the allegations.
Burnham said Britain would seek to act as an “honest broker” and take a leadership role in global AI discussions, pointing to its close relationship with the United States, improving ties with the European Union, and relations with China and India.
He said Britain has a world-leading AI Security Institute that works closely with the US and leading AI laboratories on safety issues, but argued that more needed to be done.
His office said British officials had told AI industry leaders that the country expected “full and total visibility” of new frontier models to strengthen the UK’s preparedness and resilience against potential risks.
