Mark Kotter, CEO, bit.bio
Dr. Benedict Cross, Chief Technology Officer, PhoreMost
breakthrough technology
Regulating innovation: Striking a balance for business and society
Key takeaways
- Governments are racing to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) as concerns about its impacts rise.
- Technologists worry regulation could affect the capacity of companies and economies to innovate.
- Experts are optimistic regulators can promote safe practices while supporting a new source of growth.
‘Move fast and break things’ has served as the unofficial mantra of the technology sector, in which speed to market and the ability to push the envelope often defines success. However, at the recent Bank of America Breakthrough Technology Dialogue at Goodwood in the UK, a more cautious note was struck by many of the industry leaders, investors and experts who had gathered to discuss the next frontiers of innovation.
The regulation of AI has become a pressing issue for authorities worldwide. People are concerned about the impact of AI on everything from the job market,1 to energy consumption2 to cyber-crime. The European Union claimed first-mover position with the creation of the comprehensive European AI Act,3 which came into effect in August 2024. Major economies from the UK4 to China5 have announced plans to follow suit.
Regulations seek to protect societies from some of the concerns around AI by setting out rules for the use and protection of personal data, and placing guardrails around systems deemed high-risk because they touch on crucial areas like education or law enforcement.
Many of the Breakthrough Technology Dialogue’s participants were well aware of the problems new technologies can present, and they also argued for the need to set limits. Some urged tech companies to consider the potential consequences if AI is a full-scale success, which could remove human agency from a vast array of activities and decisions.
Leaving room for growth
While safeguards are important, space is needed for the kind of experimentation and innovation that produces great leaps in fields like transportation, communications and medicine, helping to generate value and improve quality of life.
Take pharmaceuticals, where companies like UK-based PhoreMost are employing technology to accelerate the testing of a new class of molecules called “molecular glues” with the potential to combat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. PhoreMost chief technology officer Benedict Cross told the event the firm hoped to see the first regulatory approvals for these treatments in the coming year.
Microsoft’s chief strategy officer Bobby Yerramilli-Rao noted that pharma companies are also using AI to file regulatory submissions, and match patients to clinical trials, resulting in large time savings.
Technologists worry about the pace of regulation, which rarely matches the speed of development. The European AI Act, for example, while establishing the bloc as something of a leader, may slow the activities of European companies in some areas while their counterparts in markets like the U.S. currently do not face the same constraints.
European technology leaders at the Breakthrough Technology Dialogue were concerned this imbalance could relegate the region to follower status, with Europe becoming simply the paying customer of tech developed in other markets.
John Chambers, founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures and a former CEO of Cisco Systems, saw the potential for over-regulation to push business and investment to less restrictive jurisdictions. He noted laws would need to be extremely flexible and responsive, given AI will mean pivots in business models and strategies.
Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, said one lesson from the regulation of the internet is simply to make sure that AI abides by existing laws, whether around privacy or transactions. At the same time, ground rules around sensitive technologies and data can give businesses and investors the certainty needed to develop and fund future innovations – as well as give consumers the confidence to adopt them.
In the end, a consensus seemed to emerge at the Breakthrough Technology Dialogue: that regulation can be both a driver and a barrier for business, and that eventually most governments would strike the right balance between support for innovation and safety.
As Alexandra Mousavizadeh, economist and founder of Evident, a platform that tracks AI adoption in the financial services sector, put it:
The role of regulation should be to bridge the gap between what people want versus what businesses would like to see
As governments try to create rulebooks for a fast-developing field, they will be keeping a close eye on each other’s experiences, to see where innovation ecosystems are flourishing and where risk aversion may have gone too far. Ultimately, business leaders joining the Breakthrough Technology Dialogue were confident innovation would endure – even if regulation at times makes the cost of doing business higher.
To learn more about Bank of America’s international business, please get in touch with your relationship manager, or click here to view the international webpage.
1UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology: Public attitudes to data and AI: Tracker survey (Wave 3), 2024
2Scientific American: The AI Boom Could Use a Shocking Amount of Electricity, 2023
3European AI Act: First regulation on artificial intelligence, 2023
4Euractiv: King Charles confirms UK AI bill is coming, but details yet to be figured out
5Center for Security and Emerging Technology: Artificial Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Suggestions from Scholars), 2024
