Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation, governance and strategy

In just the last few years, we have all seen the incredible impact of machine learning technologies, known under the umbrella term Artificial Intelligence (AI), both in the workplace and all around us in our daily lives. It was November 2022 when OpenAI launched the generative artificial intelligence chatbot, Chat GPT, and from deepfakes to DeepMind, AI is becoming pervasive. 

The possibilities and implications of AI have now become one of the single most challenging issues worldwide, for all of us – international organisations, governments and individuals, all sectors and functions of industry, business, and charitable concern alike.  Whilst AI, as an academic discipline, has been around for quite some time, the phenomenal success of AI in general and commercial applications, and its unfathomable capabilities are genuinely new.    

At Stone King, we have been watching global legislative and regulatory initiatives within and outside government and industry-led self-regulatory practices, as well as emerging AI use cases and their specific governance, through the lens of how best to support our clients.  

To some extent, any delineated discussion of AI is a misnomer, AI itself being global in reach and interconnected across political boundaries, media platforms and infrastructure.  To speak of, and to specialise in any aspect of AI, is to narrow, to limit and to underestimate, whilst the scope, application and remit of AI exponentially grows.  Immediately, the underlying problem of AI outpacing human intelligence is demonstrated as humanity inevitably focuses its vast and needful efforts separately according to interest.  

That said, “AI in the UK” has always been a vital and vibrant part of the field of AI and is, of course, rapidly growing in every area of the UK and in every area of AI. The UK government, British tech-entrepreneurs, and academics have played a key role in the emergence and oversight of AI from its inception and continue to do so. British pioneers have won Nobel prizes in Chemistry and Physics for their astounding AI projects, and the UK hosted the world’s first global summit on AI safety at Bletchley Park.

The UK is currently adopting a different strategic approach than we are seeing in other jurisdictions, notably the EU, to legislating for AI, and some fascinating case law is emerging. At Stone King, we are watching this space carefully.

At Stone King, we have specialists in all areas of legal practice relevant to how AI is already affecting, and in future can or will affect, our clients. We are advising our charity, education, small business and social enterprise sector clients on a growing range of AI concerns.  

We are supporting our clients from a legal perspective with issues such as:

• safeguarding;
• employment;
• risk and governance;
• due diligence;
• data protection;
• intellectual property (including ownership of data);
• business to business;
• business to consumer; and,
• general advice. 

We also provide support for organisational leadership with strategy, policy, impact assessments, best practice and compliance with regulatory requirements.     

If you have any concerns about AI in your organisation, current use, potential use, benefits and harms, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are working on a brand-new detailed resource pack on AI in the workplace, which will become available for purchase soon. This resource pack will be full of useful knowledge, tips, and templates straight from our team of experts. To be one of the first to get your hands on this pack, register your interest using the form below.

Lucas Atkin and Zoe Dipple from Stone King's Information Law Team discuss the transformative potential of AI for charities amidst the UK's light-touch regulatory approach. They emphasise the importance of understanding existing legal obligations and the need for human oversight in AI applications. To help charities navigate this landscape, they introduce a ten-step programme designed to ensure ethical and lawful AI use. The programme includes practical advice on testing AI tools and addressing potential biases. They invite viewers to join an upcoming webinar for further insights.