Prime Minister Andy Burnham addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York has announced that the United Kingdom will establish a National Centre for Information Defence. The centre is intended to detect and disrupt AI‑enabled disinformation campaigns by hostile actors and will work alongside intelligence agencies, government departments, law enforcement bodies and social media platforms.
Burnham alleged that ‘the Kremlin spends around £1.3 bn each year on manipulating information’. He said Russian agencies have used ‘bots and fake websites, falsified newspaper articles, forged the branding of 28 British organisations, including universities and the BBC’. According to the BBC no immediate comment was recorded from the Russian delegation present in the hall.
Burnham warned that artificial intelligence will ‘multiply’ existing threats and described the most advanced ‘Frontier AI’ as ‘one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our age’. He said the United Kingdom will act as an ‘honest broker’ in efforts to agree global principles and standards for AI safety, transparency, access to models and safe development.
by Digital Watch Observatory – UK PM announces centre for information defence at the UN
