What are the most significant technological risks facing society? Lords to question experts
The House of Lords Risk Assessment and Risk Planning Committee will tomorrow hear evidence from a panel of expert witnesses on the risks associated with emerging technologies, the potential consequences of society’s growing dependency on technology, the ethical challenges related to technological advancement, and whether the UK is managing technological advances and their associated risks effectively.
Giving evidence will be:
- Dr Simon Beard, Academic Programme Manager and Senior Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
- Dr Stephen Cave, Executive Director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge
- Caroline Gorski, Group Director of R² Data Labs, Rolls-Royce
- John Thornhill, Innovation Editor, Financial Times
Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- How can the risk assessment process be used to inform the governance of technological innovation?
- Is failure to act ethnically in the adoption of new technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in particular, a risk?
- What needs to be done to better educate society about the risks (and benefits) of AI?
- Is the UK government adequately prepared to deal with the risk of cyber-attacks?
- How far can risks from emerging technologies be mitigated by UK action alone or is international cooperation required?
The session will take place virtually on Wednesday 13 January at 10:30am and can be followed on Parliament TV.
