Policy paper

'State of the Science' Report to Understand Capabilities and Risks of Frontier AI: Statement by the Chair, 2 November 2023

Published 2 November 2023

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The countries represented at Bletchley Park have agreed to support the development of an international, independent and inclusive ‘State of the Science’ Report on the capabilities and risks of frontier AI. This comes as part of the commitment in the Bletchley Declaration of 1 November 2023 by the countries represented to international cooperation and building a shared scientific and evidence-based understanding of frontier AI risks.

As host of the AI Safety Summit, the UK has commissioned Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award-winning AI academic and member of the UN’s Scientific Advisory Board, to Chair the Report. He will be supported by a diverse group of leading AI academics composed of an appropriate number of individuals with the necessary variety of expertise. It will be advised by an Expert Advisory Panel comprising representatives from countries attending the Summit and other partner countries.

The intention of the ‘State of the Science’ Report is to facilitate a shared science-based understanding of the risks associated with frontier AI and to sustain that understanding as capabilities continue to increase, through its narrowly defined scope to review the latest, cutting-edge, research on the risks and capabilities of frontier AI models.

Rather than producing new material, it will summarise the best of existing research and identify areas of research priority, providing a synthesis of the existing knowledge of frontier AI risks. It will not make policy or regulatory recommendations but will instead help to inform both international and domestic policy making.

The Report will be published ahead of the next AI Safety Summit. In focusing on frontier AI, it is also intended to help inform and complement other international initiatives, such as those led by the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Global Partnership for AI (GPAI). Its analysis will inform the activity of the United Nations’ Artificial Intelligence Advisory Body.

As the host of this AI Safety Summit, the UK will stand up the Secretariat to support the Chair and Expert Panel.

Notes to editors

The countries represented were:

  • Australia
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • China
  • European Union
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kenya
  • Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Nigeria
  • The Philippines
  • Republic of Korea
  • Rwanda
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Türkiye
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • United States of America

References to ‘governments’ and ‘countries’ include international organisations acting in accordance with their legislative or executive competences.

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