Cloud Hosting

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

The definition of artificial intelligence is contested, but the term is generally used to refer to computer systems that can perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence. 1 Central Digital and Data Office, Data Ethics Framework: glossary and methodology, last updated 16 March 2020, retrieved 23 October 2023,www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-ethics-framework/data-ethics-framework-glossary-and-methodology The 2023 AI white paper defines it according to two characteristics that make it particularly difficult to regulate adaptivity (which can make it difficult to explain the intent or logic of outcomes) and autonomy (which can make it difficult to assign responsibility for outcomes). 2 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, CP 815, TheStationeryOffice, 2023,www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-regulation-a-pro-innovation-approach, p. 22.

It is helpful to think of a continuum between narrow AI on the one hand which can be applied only to specific purposes, e.g. playing chess and artificial general intelligence on the other which may have the potential to surpass the powers of the human brain. Somewhere along this continuum, general purpose AI is a technology that enables algorithms, trained on broad data, to be applied for a variety of purposes.

The models underlying general purpose AI are known as foundation models. 3 Jones E,Explainer: What is a foundation model?,Ada Lovelace Institute,2023,www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/resource/foundation-models-explainer/ A subset of these that are trained on and produce text are known as large language models (LLMs). These include GPT3.5, which underpins ChatGPT. 4 BommasaniR and Liang P,Reflections on Foundation Models,StanfordInstitute for Human-CenteredArtificial Intelligence,18 October2021,https://hai.stanford.edu/news/reflections-foundation-models General purpose AI programs such as ChatGPT which can provide responses to a wide range of user inputs are sometimes imprecisely referred to as generative AI.

General purpose AI relies on very large datasets (e.g. most written text available on the Internet). The complex models that interpret this data known as foundation models learn, iteratively, what response to draw from the data when prompted to do so (e.g. through questions asked otherwise known as prompts). 5 Visual Storytelling Team and Murgia M,Generative AI exists because of the transformerFinancial Times,12 September 2023,retrieved 23 October 2023,https://ig.ft.com/generative-ai/ The models learn in part autonomously, but also through human feedback, with rules set by their developers to tune their outputs. This process hones the models to provide outputs increasingly tailored to their intended audience, often refining them based on user feedback.

General purpose AI programs enable foundation models to be applied by users in particular contexts. General purpose AI is capable of emergent behaviour 6 WeiJ, Tay Y,BommasaniR and others,Emergent Abilities of Large Language Models,Transactions on Machine Learning Research,August 2022,https://openreview.net/pdf?id=yzkSU5zdwD, p.22. where software can learn new tasks with little additional information or training. 7 Ibid,p. 6.https://openreview.net/pdf?id=yzkSU5zdwD This has led to models learning moderate arithmetic or another language. 8 NgilaF, A googleAI model developed a skill it wasnt expected to have,Quartz,17 April 2023, retrieved 23 October 2023,https://qz.com/google-ai-skills-sundar-pichai-bard-hallucinations-1850342984 Concerningly, AI developers are unsure of how these emergent behaviours are being learned. 9 Ornes S,The Unpredictable Abilities Emerging From Large AIModels,Quanta Magazine,16 March 2023, retrieved 23 October 2023,www.quantamagazine.org/the-unpredictable-abilities-emerging-from-large-ai-models-20230316/

General purpose AI models have already been used in a range of circumstances. Whilst the most common usage to date has been in marketing and customer relations, foundation models have also been essential for radical improvements in healthcare, for instance by predicting protein structures which will increase the speed of drug development, 10 TheAlphaFoldteam,AlphaFold: a solution to a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology,blog,Google DeepMind,www.deepmind.com/blog/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology developing antibody therapies 11 CallawayE, How generative AI is building better antibodies,Nature,4 May 2023, retrieved 23 October 2023www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01516-w and designing vaccines. 12 Dolgin E,Remarkable AI tool designs mRNA vaccines that are more potent and stable,Nature,2 May 2023, retrieved 23 October 2023,www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01487-yAI has also been used to aid the transition to net zero, for example by informing the siting and design of new wind farms and improving the efficiency of carbon capture systems. 13 LarosaF,Hoyas S,Garca-MartnezSand others,Halting generative AI advancements may slow down progress in climate research,Nature Climate Change,2023,vol.13, no.6, pp. 4979,www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01686-5;NeslenA, Here's how AI can help fight climate change,World Economic Forum,11 August 2021, retrieved 23 October 2023www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/how-ai-can-fight-climate-change/

In public services, general purpose AI can be utilised to provide highly personalised services at scale. It has already been tested in education, improving student support services at multiple universities 14 UNESCO, Artificial intelligence in education, [no date], retrieved 23 October2023,www.unesco.org/en/digital-education/artificial-intelligence but its biggest impact could be in schools 15 Ahmed M,UK passport photo checker shows bias against dark-skinned women,BBC News,8October 2020, retrieved 23 October 2023,www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54349538 where student data can be used to design learning activities best suited to an individuals subject understanding and style of learning, rather than via a more standardised approach to classroom learning (albeit that further testing and careful safeguards would be required). AI has also been deployed for facial recognition in policing and to identify fraudulent activity, for example.

More here:
Artificial intelligence: definitions and implications for public services - The Institute for Government |