The next great global shock is likely to be caused by AI and other runaway technology, deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden warns ahead of UK tech summit

• He said UK had already ‘glimpsed the future’ with cyberattacks and deepfakes

The next great shock to the world is likely to be caused by runaway technology, the deputy prime minister has warned.

Oliver Dowden said Britain had already ‘glimpsed the future’, with cyberattacks bringing public services to a halt, deepfakes duping the public, and bots interfering in elections.

But these were only ‘relative skirmishes’ compared with the enormous potential danger from advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Though they offered extraordinary benefits, he warned that hostile state actors were ‘actively seeking these technologies for their own competitive advantage or even to enhance their military capability’. 

Mr Dowden highlighted the importance of the world’s first AI safety summit – in the UK next week – at which global leaders and tech chiefs will discuss how to avoid the technology’s ‘catastrophic’ potential.

Oliver Dowden (pictured) said Britain had already ‘glimpsed the future’, with cyberattacks bringing public services to a halt, deepfakes duping the public, and bots interfering in elections

But these were only ‘relative skirmishes’ compared with the enormous potential danger from advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing

The two-day event at Bletchley Park will look at regulating the AI industry, which experts have warned is in a ‘dangerous’ arms race to create ever more powerful technology without ensuring it is safe.

READ MORE: ChatGPT could be responsible for the next CYBER ATTACK: Scientists show how AI systems can be tricked into producing malicious code

Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia, Mr Dowden said: ‘We’ve had a glimpse into this future, with cyberattacks bringing public services to a halt, and ransomware wiping millions off companies’ share prices. 

But with the enormous potential of AI and quantum computing there is a very real possibility that the world’s next shock will be a tech shock.’

His speech came as Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan reaffirmed her commitment to ‘safety at the frontier’ of the AI sector, saying: ‘I want people to use AI with the same confidence as when we book a plane ticket.’

Highlighting the scale of the danger, a team from the University of Sheffield has said that users could ask AI chatbots – by mistake – to write a code that can hack into and crash major computer systems.

• Dozens of US states have filed a lawsuit in California against Facebook and Instagram – owned by Meta – accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through the addictive nature of their social media platforms.

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