technology – The Church of England in Parliament

Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill: Bishop of Worcester welcomes legislation

On 22nd March 2024, the Bishop of Worcester spoke in a debate on the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill (a private members bill tabled by Lord Holmes of Richmond), supporting the aims of the bill and calling for robust approach to AI regulation:

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I guarantee that this is not an AI-generated speech. Indeed, Members of the House might decide after five minutes that there is not much intelligence of any kind involved in its creation. Be that as it may, we on these Benches have engaged extensively with the impacts and implications of new technologies for years—from contributions to the Warnock committee in the 1980s through to the passage of the Online Safety Bill through this House last year. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, for this timely and thoughtful Bill and for his brilliant introduction to it. Innovation must be enthusiastically encouraged, as the noble Baroness, Lady Moyo, has just reminded us. It is a pleasure to follow her.

That said, I will take us back to first principles for a moment: to Christian principles, which I hope all of good will would want to support. From these principles arise two imperatives for regulation and governance, whatever breakthroughs new technologies enable. The first is that a flourishing society depends on respecting human dignity and agency. The more any new tool threatens such innate dignity, the more carefully it should be evaluated and regulated. The second imperative is a duty of government, and all of us, to defend and promote the needs of the nation’s weak and marginalised —those who cannot always help themselves. I am not convinced that the current pro-innovation and “observe first, intervene later” approach to AI get this perennial balance quite right. For that reason, I support the ambitions outlined in the Bill.

Bishop of Bristol highlights negative impact of lack of digital access for children

On 8th February 2024, the Bishop of Bristol spoke in a debate on a report from the Communications and Digital Committee on digital exclusion, emphasising the impact of lack of digital access on children:

The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, whose speech imaginatively took us into the life and world of Joe Soap. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, on securing this timely debate—timely in one sense—and I offer my thanks to all members of the Communications and Digital Committee for a thorough and wide-ranging report. I also lament the lack of a government cross-departmental strategy.

Today, I focus my comments on digital inclusion and exclusion in and around schools, about which I have a little knowledge. In 2021, UNICEF produced an excellent report on the effect of digital exclusion on schoolchildren. That report said that

“digital inclusion must be seen as the cornerstone to ensuring social justice and equitable life chances for every child”.

Those words were written while the pandemic was at its peak and the long-term impact on education was still difficult to predict.

Bishop of St Albans asks about digital connectivity in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on digital connectivity in rural communities on 22nd November 2023, following a government statement on the levelling-up agenda:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interests as president of the Rural Coalition and a vice-president of the LGA. The 9.6 million people living in rural areas are glad that there is a mention of rural in the opening paragraph, but we cannot quite see how that rolls out. I wonder whether the Minister can help us a little. One of the crucial things about rural sustainability, improving levels of employment and offering healthcare in rural areas is digital connectivity, yet 17% of rural houses are not on superfast broadband, and nor are 30% of rural commercial premises. How does this relate to the need across the country to roll out a much higher level of rural connectivity? It has been done with a fantastic project in Cornwall and a lot was done in Shropshire at one stage, so it can be done. How do we get that sort of rural levelling up in digital connectivity?

Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill: Bishop of St Albans raises ethical concerns over data access and developing technologies

On 20th November 2023, the Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill [HL] at the bill’s second reading, raising concerns regarding the expanded powers the bill would give to the intelligence services to access personal data, and the ethical considerations of developing technology:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Anderson of Ipswich, for his very helpful and excellent work in his area. With the rapid acceleration of technology and technological capacity, I recognise the need for this Bill to be updated. In this context, I welcome the Government’s sense of urgency in addressing the changing landscape in this area, and seeking to close those gaps that potentially endanger both the security and the safety of our nation. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Leeds had hoped to be here today, as he has taken a particular interest in this area, but he is detained elsewhere. We would both like to express two concerns that we believe must be addressed as this Bill is debated in your Lordships’ House.

Bishop of Oxford asks about Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

The Bishop of Oxford received the following written answer on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford asked His Majesty’s Government:

what is the current status of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.
what future plans there are for the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

Bishop of Oxford takes part in debate on development of advanced Artificial Intelligence

On 24th July 2023, the Bishop of Oxford spoke in a debate about the ongoing development of advanced artificial intelligence, associated risks and potential approaches to regulation within the UK and internationally:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of two recent select and scrutiny committees on AI, and as a founding board member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

Together with others, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, on this debate, and it is a pleasure to follow the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Houghton.

We are at a pivotal moment in the development of AI. As others have said, there is immense potential for good and immense potential for harm in the new technologies. The question before us is not primarily one of assessing risk and developing regulation. Risk and regulation must both rest on the foundation of ethics. My fundamental question is: what is the Government’s view on the place of ethics within these debates, and the place of the humanities and civil society in the development and translation of ethics?

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Finance, Repairs and Maintenance, Technology, Religious Freedom, Diocesan Vacancies, and Education

On 14th July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Church of England: Finance

Julian Knight MP (Ind, Solihull): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to ensure transparency and accountability in its financial operations.

Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Oxford welcomes amendments on artificial intelligence, stresses importance of future-proofing

On 6th July 2023, during a debate on the Online Safety Bill, The Bishop of Oxford spoke in support of a group of amendments to the bill focusing on the development of artificial intelligence, whilst raising concerns about whether the bill was sufficiently future proofed given the rapid movement of technology:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I warmly welcome this group of amendments. I am very grateful to the Government for a number of amendments that they are bringing forward at this stage. I want to support this group of amendments, which are clearly all about navigating forward and future-proofing the Bill in the context of the very rapid development of artificial intelligence and other technologies. In responding to this group of amendments, will the Minister say whether he is now content that the Bill is sufficiently future-proofed, given the hugely rapid development of technology, and whether he believes that Ofcom now has sufficient powers to risk assess for the future and respond, supposing that there were further parallel developments in generative AI such as we have seen over the past year?

Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham requests clarification on use of digital methods such as video conferencing in immigration procedures

During a committee debate on the Illegal Migration Bill on 12th June 2023, the Bishop of Durham raised a point of clarification to Lord Murray of Blidworth (the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Migration & Borders), on the use of remote methods such as video-conferencing to conduct immigration procedures, asking whether such methods were as effective as in person interviewing and interventions:

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): Amendment 90, spoken to by my noble friends Lord Randall and Lord McColl, relates to the presumption that it is not necessary for a person to remain in the UK to co-operate with an investigation. It is one of the enduring legacies of the Covid pandemic that much more can now be done remotely. We all see this in the changes to the way we work. Even now, some Members of your Lordships’ House take part in debates by videolink. It is simply no longer the case that a victim of crime needs to be in face-to-face contact with police or others to assist with an investigation. There is no reason why, in the majority of cases, such co-operation cannot continue by email, messaging and videoconferencing. The presumption in Clause 21(5) is therefore perfectly proper.

(…)

The Lord Bishop of Durham: Sorry—it has taken me a little while to contemplate but is the Minister effectively saying that the use of video and email and so on is as good as in-person interviewing and in-person interventions? I really think that needs to be rethought.

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