U.K. Lawmakers Warn Against Tech Giants Dominating AI Industry

An influential body of U.K. lawmakers said regulators should stop major tech companies from dominating the field of artificial intelligence, and also warned on the potential of widespread unemployment due to the technology, according to Bloomberg.

British antitrust regulators should be mindful that large datasets on which artificial intelligence depends on are not monopolized by a handful of large technology companies, such as Alphabet, IBM and Microsoft, the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence said in a report.

"Large companies which have control over vast quantities of data must be prevented from becoming overly powerful within this landscape," the report, which followed a nine-month inquiry into all aspects of AI development in the U.K., said. The committee received 223 pieces of written evidence and interviewed 57 witnesses during the course of the investigation. However, it stopped short in recommending the creation of an overarching new ministry to serve as a watchdog on the emerging technology.

"We don’t see the need for an overarching regulator," Timothy Clement-Jones, the chairman of the committee, said in an interview. But he said that the Financial Conduct Authority, for instance, should be aware of how insurance companies are using machine-learning algorithms to help determine someone’s premiums or how banks are using such technology to determine whether to extend credit.

The lawmakers also urged government to be vigilant about the potential for widespread job losses due to the adoption of AI across the economy, but stopped short of endorsing any radical policy solutions, such as a universal basic income, that some have advocated. "We believe that AI will disrupt a wide range of jobs over the coming decades, and both blue- and white-collar jobs which exist today will be put at risk," it said.

Instead, the committee said that the government must invest more heavily in adult retraining programs and called on industry to match government funding for these programs. "The U.K. is a world leader in AI and has many opportunities available to it, but it won’t be able to take advantage of those opportunities unless we mitigate some of the risks involved," Clement-Jones said.

The government also needs to do more to ensure the U.K. continues to have enough people with machine-learning skills, the committee said. This was especially important as the U.K. prepares to leave the European Union, since many British workers with AI skills are currently drawn from abroad.