I was honoured yesterday evening to participate, in the House of Lords, to the 3rd Advisory Board Meeting and AGM of the APPG -AI (#artificial intelligence) chaired by Lord Clement-Jones, together with Lord Chris Holmes, Stephen Metcalfe MP and Birgitte Andersen of the excellent Big Innovation Centre. During the Evidence Session which followed Lord Clement-Jones pointed out rightly that we should indeed be concerned with what'AI can do' but also'should do'. As an advocate of caution of how AI should be used I could have added'should not do'. Chris, one of the speakers, pointed out the gender biases which are now coded into AI algorithms. After the session I asked him whether coders could in his opinion equally code moral values in AI algorithms?

It sounds like a script from the Netflix futuristic dystopia Black Mirror. Chatbots now ask: "How can I help you?" The reply typed in return: "Are you human?" "Of course I am human," comes the response. "But how do I know you're human?" The so-called Turing Test where people question a machine's ability to imitate human intelligence is happening right now.

The UK's first major Parliamentary inquiry into Artificial Intelligence has called for a new cross-sector ethics code to ensure that the country becomes a world leader in AI. Lord Clement-Jones, the Chairman of The House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, told Techworld that an ethical approach was essential to ensure public support for AI. "What we want is to make sure that the public is fully trusting in this technology, and you can only do that if they believe it's for the benefit of them and others when they're being applied, and also that it's transparent and unbiased in its application," he said. The proposed "AI Code" could attract public support by creating consistent guidelines for developing and using AI across all organisations and companies in both the public and private sectors. In a report titled AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able?, the committee set out five principles to form the basis of the code, which could be adopted internationally: This AI code could provide the basis for future statutory regulation, but the committee stopped short of recommending new regulation specifically for AI at this point.

Members of the House of Lords have called for an artificial intelligence code of conduct in the UK. The House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, in a report titled AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able?, argued that the UK can lead the world in AI, as long as it puts ethics at the centre of its plans. The Committee recommended five principles guiding how researchers and businesses develop artificially intelligent systems in the UK. As part of its report, the Lords have called for these principles to be formulated into a cross-sector AI code to be adopted internationally as well as in the UK. Commenting on the report, the Committee's chairman, Lord Clement-Jones, said: "The UK has a unique opportunity to shape AI positively for the public's benefit and to lead the international community in AI's ethical development, rather than passively accept its consequences."

Britain has the potential to be a world leader in artificial intelligence but it must put ethics at the centre of its development and use. That is one of the key conclusions of a new report published today by the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. The'AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able?' report found that the UK's position, along with the wider adoption of AI, could deliver a major boost to its economy for years to come. "The UK has a unique opportunity to shape AI positively for the public's benefit and to lead the international community in AI's ethical development, rather than passively accept its consequences," said Lord Clement-Jones, chairman of the committee. "The UK contains leading AI companies, a dynamic academic research culture, and a vigorous start-up ecosystem as well as a host of legal, ethical, financial and linguistic strengths. "We should make the most of this environment, but it is essential that ethics take centre stage in AI's development and use." The report concluded that many jobs will be enhanced by AI, many will disappear and many new will be created, and has called for significant government investment in skills and training to mitigate the negative effects of AI. Re-training will become a lifelong necessity. Among the reports other recommendations is that individuals need to be able to have greater control over their data; the monopolisation of data by big tech companies must be avoided; the prejudices of the past must not be unwittingly built into automated systems; and children need to be adequately prepared at earlier stages of education for working with and using AI. The committee has also called for the government to draw up a national policy framework to ensure the coordination and successful delivery of AI policy in the UK, and that it should use targeted procurement to provide a boost to AI development and deployment. Furthermore, the report stated that transparency in AI is crucial. The industry, through the AI Council, should establish a voluntary mechanism to inform consumers when AI is being used to make significant or sensitive decisions. Lord Clement-Jones added: "AI is not without its risks and the adoption of the principles proposed by the committee will help to mitigate these.