Britain has a low understanding of the artificial intelligence used by its allies and its enemies, an influential think tank has been told.
State secrecy over AI capabilities was also hampering the ability of scientists without the right security clearance to use the technology, a Policy Exchange conference heard.
While other countries such as the US, the UAE and China were developing AI at high speed, Britain was lacking a “critical thing” which was “high-quality scientific intelligence”, said Sir Anthony Finkelstein, the government’s former chief scientific adviser for national security.
“Our understanding of our competitors and adversaries’ science and technology base is inadequate,” he told the debate on Artificial Intelligence, Technologies and National Security. “Our existing mechanisms are not are not fit for purpose.”
Unlike other countries, Britain was not “scaled” for tackling the opportunities given by AI and this needed to be addressed as “an immediate action”.
This was being further hampered by the obsessive secrecy surrounding certain high-level projects that denied developers access to top-grade information, said David Willetts, the former UK government minister for science.
These were “tricky issues” that needed to be resolved, foremost of which was getting experts from defence and security together with civilians in meetings.
But this was being hampered by many of the gatherings only available to those people with “relatively high-security classifications” and a number of civilian scientists had been told they could not attend them.
“This is a dual-use technology but they are not allowed to find out exactly what the dual use is,” said Mr Willetts.
“One of the urgent programmes under way at the moment is that we need to get greater security clearance for more of the civil experts so at least they can participate in these discussions,” he said. “And not just be presented with arguments, which basically say, ‘if you knew what we knew you would understand why this is a problem’ which is so frustrating and is a way of stopping rational discussion linking defence and civilians.”
He added that a number of AI research and development projects were also being held back by people demanding extra requirements and analysis.
“You'll be surprised at the number of what were previously simple commercial public R&D spending decisions now get caught up in an extra six months of analysis,” he said.
“Which is not always relevant if you're just trying to ensure the investment comes to Britain instead of going to France or Israel. So the requirements thinking can slow things up,” he said.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
Read more about the coronavirus
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
