Posted: 8th February 2024

Professor of Computer Science, Michael Wooldridge, was appointed specialist adviser to the House of Lords Communications and Digital committee for their inquiry into Large Language Models and generative AI. The committee took verbal and written evidence between September and December 2023, and recently published its report. 

LLMs such as ChatGPT took the world by storm in 2023, becoming the most rapidly adopted online tools in history. LLMs are a type of Artificial Intelligence that is trained on enormous quantities of text, and they have demonstrated extraordinary capabilities to understand and generate ordinary human language. These models have brought both significant possibilities and challenges to the world. The Lords inquiry examined possible trajectories for LLMs over the next three years, exploring the next steps required to take full advantage of the opportunities and tackle the risks.  

Professor Wooldridge, as specialist advisor, assisted the committee as it identified actions to ensure the technology brings benefits to people, the economy, and society. The inquiry also took evidence from expert witnesses, held roundtables with businesses and visited Google and UCL Business.  

The Lords inquiry was an incredibly timely contribution to our understanding of the opportunities and risks around LLMs. It was a pleasure and a privilege to assist the inquiry in understanding issues around topics such as copyright and open and closed models. The report is essential reading for anyone interested in the proper development and use of this technology. Professor Michael Wooldridge

While optimistic about LLMs, with their potential to bring huge rewards and drive groundbreaking scientific advances, the committee’s report also proposed to the Government the need for judicious and speedy action to ensure responsible innovation and the proportionate mitigation of risks.  

Read the full report at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5804/ldselect/ldcomm/54/54.pdf