Artificial intelligence (AI) could have a more significant impact on the United Kingdom than the Industrial Revolution, said the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden. The leader warned that the emerging technology could be used by hackers to access sensitive information from the government.
Dowden also said that AI could speed up productivity and perform boring aspects of jobs. A total revolution, it is going to transform almost all elements of life over the coming years, even months in some cases, he added. It is much faster than other revolutions that the country has seen and much more extensive, whether that’s the invention of the internal combustion engine or the Industrial Revolution.
While AI allows for faster future decision-making by governments, with asylum claim applications in the UK already being processed by the Home Office using AI, the technology could be harnessed by terrorists to expand knowledge on dangerous material or conduct widespread hacking operations, Dowden said.
The UK Deputy Prime Minister said, “You can shortcut hacking by AI. The ability to do destructive things – you can use AI to help you do those… We need to be careful not to overstate these things and do it on an evidential basis, but there is the risk there that has to be addressed.”
