Artificial intelligence pioneer and director of Google subsidiary Deepmind, Demis Hassabis, has announced that greater international cooperation is needed in the field of artificial intelligence regulation, but that this is “difficult” in “today's geopolitical context,” AFP reported.

At a time when artificial intelligence is being integrated into all industries, its use raises serious ethical questions, from the spread of misinformation to its impact on employment or the loss of technological control.

During the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in London, Hassabis, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in AI, also addressed the challenges that artificial general intelligence (AGI) will bring—a technology that could equal or even surpass human capabilities.

“The most important thing is to have some form of international cooperation because technology crosses all borders. It will be applied in all countries,” Hassabis said.

“Many, many countries are engaged in research or building data centers or hosting these technologies. So I think that for it to make sense, there needs to be some form of international cooperation or collaboration, and unfortunately that seems quite difficult in today's geopolitical context,” he said.

At the AI summit in Paris in February, 58 countries, including China, France, India, the European Union, and the African Union Commission, called for better coordination in AI governance.

However, the US warned against “excessive regulation,” with US Vice President Jay Chalmers Pence saying it could “kill a transformative sector.”

Along with the US, the United Kingdom refused to sign the meeting's call for “open,” “inclusive,” and “ethical” AI.

Hasabides advocated for the introduction of “smart, adaptive regulation” because “it must adapt to the direction in which technology is developing and to the problems that arise.” |BGNES