[Opinion] DVLA, automotive AI and sovereignty
Back in 2015, I spent an afternoon at the DVLA mapping out the future of the automotive industry. It was during those mapping exercises that I became aware that values could be embedded in the simulation models (a precursor to what we call training data today) for the intelligent agents built. In terms of sovereignty, we used the maps to identify areas we could collaborate & co-operate on, and where we needed to protect (where our border should be - see attached).
I've repeated this concern consistently since then (at numerous events, most vocally since 2023/2024 as GPTs diffused). LLM/GPTs should be considered to be non kinetic forms of warfare (far more invasive than Hollywood) and unless all the symbolic instructions for such systems (and that includes the training data) are open then we run the real danger of creating new theocracies.
My experience chimes with the statement that "few think about what happens when the training data itself becomes the attack vector."
I realise how difficult it would be, but if Europe (and that includes the UK) wishes to retain any form of meaningful sovereignty then it should either take a path of encouraging adoption of Chinese technology vendors (it is better to subdivide your sovereignty against multiple competitors rather than relying on one) or it needs to ban all non open sourced AI where open source includes all the symbolic instructions and that includes the training data. Closed training data creates asymmetric power.
As painful as a ban would be (and the economic shock to growth would be severe), that is the path that I would choose. Realistically though, I don't expect anything but surrender. We should start planning for a world where most people's truth is whatever Grok or ChatGPT tells them it is — and guardrails are not going to stop the embedding of competitive values into our culture.
This is the last drink, in the last chance saloon. Either we act or we all become the US or whatever version of US values that Elon Musk et al want us to be. If collectively we are ok with that, then fine. I just feel it should be a conscious choice.
Europe (EU + EFTA + UK) is the world's largest trading bloc by goods and services, and by PPP its GDP is second only to China. Many underestimate the power that Europe has, though we do seem to generally suffer (in comparison to China) from poor situational awareness in the economic, technological, social and political landscapes. Of course, in territorial conflict then the US dominates militarily but conflict is the least desirable form of competition. We excel at using the other forms - co-operation and collaboration - and we should build on this with speed and decisiveness.
Originally published on LinkedIn.