Regulating AI in the UK: A discussion with Lord Holmes

For those following the regulation of artificial intelligence, there is no doubt passage of the AI Act in the EU is likely top of mind. But proposed policies, laws and regulatory developments are taking shape in many corners of the world, including in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Singapore and the U.S. Not to be left behind, the U.K. held a highly touted AI Safety Summit late last year, producing the Bletchley Declaration, and the government has been quite active in what the IAPP Research and Insights team describes as a “context-based, proportionate approach to regulation.” In the upper chamber of the U.K. Parliament, Lord Holmes, a member of the influential House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, introduced a private members’ bill late in 2023 that proposes the regulation of AI. The bill also just received a second reading in the House of Lords 22 March. Lord Holmes spoke of AI’s power at a recent IAPP conference in London. While there, I had the opportunity to catch up with him to learn more about his Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill and what he sees as the right approach to guiding the powers of this burgeoning technology.