The Bishop of Oxford received the following written answer on 17th October 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Oxford asked His Majesty’s Government:
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?
Continue reading “Bishop of Oxford takes part in debate on development of advanced Artificial Intelligence”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.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Finance, Repairs and Maintenance, Technology, Religious Freedom, Diocesan Vacancies, and Education”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?
Continue reading “Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Oxford welcomes amendments on artificial intelligence, stresses importance of future-proofing”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.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham requests clarification on use of digital methods such as video conferencing in immigration procedures”On 25th May 2023, the House of Lords debated the Online Safety Bill in committee. The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in support of amendments to the bill tabled by the Bishop of Oxford, Lord Clement Jones, and Lord Colville of Culross, which would introduce new duties to Ofcom to assess risk and monitor online safety:
My Lords, I shall speak in favour of Amendments 195, 239 and 263, tabled in the names of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Oxford, the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Viscount, Lord Colville of Culross, who I thank for his comments.
My right reverend friend the Bishop of Oxford regrets that he is unable to attend today’s debate. I know he would have liked to be here. My right reverend friend tells me that the Government’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, of which he was a founding member, devoted considerable resource to horizon scanning in its early years, looking for the ways in which AI and tech would develop across the world. The centre’s analysis reflected a single common thread: new technologies are developing faster than we can track them and they bring with them the risk of significant harms.
This Bill has also changed over time. It now sets out two main duties: the illegal content duty and the children duty. These duties have been examined and debated for years, including by the joint scrutiny committee. They are refined and comprehensive. Risk assessments are required to be “suitable and sufficient”, which is traditional language from 20 years of risk-based regulation. It ensures that the duties are fit for purpose and proportionate. The duties must be kept up to date and in line with any service changes. Recent government amendments now helpfully require companies to report to Ofcom and publish summaries of their findings.
Continue reading “Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports Bishop of Oxford’s amendments on safety and risk”The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 23rd May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Amnesty International published on 2 May into the use of the Israeli military facial recognition system, Red Wolf, in mass surveillance and whether they support the call by Amnesty International for an end to mass and targeted surveillance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark asks about use of facial recognition by the Israeli military”
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of their ability to combat piracy once fully automated ships have been brought into service, and of how fully automated ships and their cargo can be protected from illegal boarding in the absence of a crew.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about piracy in relation to automated ships”The Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asked a question on training for installation of low carbon technology during a debate on the government’s net-zero strategy on 3rd May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich: My Lords, as I understand it, one of the barriers to installing new low-carbon technology is the shortage of skilled labour to carry out this work. Can the Minister tell us what plans there are to invest in and expand training and skills programmes for the installation of low-carbon technology such as heat pumps, EV chargers and solar panels?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asks about training and skills for installation of low carbon technology”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 3rd May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to uphold the obligation “to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea once fully automated ships are brought into service.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about duty to render assistance at sea for automated ships”
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