AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach (2023)

The IET welcomes the opportunity to respond to the government’s white paper on AI regulation.

AI can spur innovation and productivity across all engineering and technology sectors – including construction, energy, healthcare, and manufacturing.

However, it is critical that the appropriate legal and regulatory structures are in place to allow its safe development and use.

We are well-placed to offer guidance on this topic, and this response was put together with input from AI thought leaders from our Digital, Healthcare, Innovation and Skills, and Safety policy panels.

In the last year, we have published several papers on the development and use of AI systems - for example, an analysis of AI technologies used in healthy ageing research, and guidance on the principles of the safe operation of AI systems.

Our response addresses the questions at the end of each section of the white paper, and are labelled accordingly.

Main recommendations

• A statutory duty on regulators to implement the framework is necessary to ensure the outlined principles are taken seriously and engaged with
• The government should set up a regulatory oversight body to co-ordinate guidance on good practice and deliver sanctions where misuse has occurred.
• Funding to deliver agile short courses (micro-credentials) for AI upskilling is required, given the fast-moving pace of the technology
• The government should establish a centralised repository of AI resources, tools, and guidelines for businesses to access and learn from