Britain’s competition authority announced on Thursday, that it would begin investigating the impact of artificial intelligence on consumers.
The regulatory authority wants to know how firms and the economy are affected, as well as whether new regulations on technology like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are required.
While AI research has been ongoing for many years, the recent popularity of generative AI applications such as ChatGPT and Midjourney has highlighted a technology that has the potential to transform the way businesses and society operate.
Governments all over the world are now attempting to strike a balance in order to assess and mitigate some of the potential negative repercussions of AI without restricting innovation.
Rather than forming a new body dedicated to the technology, the United Kingdom decided in March to divide regulatory authority for AI among the bodies that supervise human rights, health and safety, and competition.
The Competition and Markets Authority, which made headlines last week by blocking Microsoft’s $69 billion merger of Activision Blizzard, announced that it would begin its work by attempting to understand how foundation models that use massive amounts of unlabeled data were emerging.
“It’s crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information,” CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said.
The review in the United Kingdom is similar to enquiries taking place in Beijing, Brussels, Italy and Washington.
The United States is considering potential laws to govern the technology, while digital ministers from the Group of Seven top countries agreed last month to establish AI regulation that would also retain an open environment for the development of such technologies.
