That it is taking place at all, and the guest list includes top-rank politicians as well as chief executives from some of the best-known AI companies in the world, makes the first global artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit a success.
The two-day event at Bletchley Park, the place Second World War codebreakers once called home, will focus on “frontier” AI, the hugely capable models able to perform a broad range of tasks and so can be most useful, but also carry the greatest existential risks.
Rishi Sunak is right to bring decision-makers together to construct a framework that balances both the vast opportunities but also the dangers AI poses. The technology can and already is helping to save lives in healthcare, but it could in extremis be hijacked by nefarious actors to develop chemical or biological weapons.
Perhaps the clearest danger of the AI summit comes in the shape of Elon Musk, whose companies include SpaceX, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter). Before travelling to Britain for the gathering, Musk revealed he decided to purchase the social media website because it was effectively a “death cult” seeking to propagate “the extinction of humanity and civilisation”. It will at least be box office.
More aid for Gaza
The Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt, has been a one-way street for weeks. Some aid, but by no means enough, has trickled into the Strip, but people, including the injured and foreign nationals, have been unable to leave.
This may change today if a deal holds that would permit foreign passport holders as well as some of the critically injured to exit and be treated in Egyptian hospitals. What this doesn’t alter is the urgent need for humanitarian pauses, backed by the US and UK governments, which would enable much more aid to enter Gaza, to avert a growing humanitarian crisis.
A Christmas gesture
The arrival of the bill is no one’s favourite part of the eating out ritual. But it also serves as an opportunity to do something good. Londoners are being invited to add £1 to their bills this festive season to raise money for homeless people.
This year’s StreetSmart campaign is again welcoming hundreds of restaurants, bars and hotels across the city. The scheme benefits more than 50 organisations, including The Felix Project, the charity partner for the Evening Standard’s Food for London Now campaign, which has provided 3.6 million meals across a five-year period.
No lesser authority than Jimi Famurewa, the Standard’s chief restaurant critic, called StreetSmart “a vital, simple way to pay the spirit and generosity of a great meal forward”. For a full list of those taking part, visit streetsmart.org.uk.
