The co-founder of Anthropic has suggested that an artificial intelligence “kill switch” which can be checked by a third party may need to be mandatory for companies. Jack Clark, one of seven founders of Anthropic, told the BBC that a way of shutting off AI software completely if it gets too dangerous was something society “might want to eventually pass rules around”.

In the interview Clark also said that “most labs have different ways of being able to pull the plug”, including Anthropic, but said lawmakers may need to enforce having one.

The news comes following Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei calling for the pace of AI development to slow and be more closely monitored.

Cyber expert Graeme Stewart, Head of Public Sector, Check Point had the following to say:

“Putting an AI kill switch in place when things go wrong, which occasionally they will, is a necessary step and one that will need to be written into UK law. Autonomous technology has the potential to turbocharge the economy but checks and balances need to be put in place, especially when you’re dealing with organisations like the NHS and other critical public services.

This policy however raises much bigger questions, for example who owns ultimate responsibility for a kill switch? The tech provider, government, cyber regulator or policymakers? We also need to hear detail about what role this function would provide, such as disabling automated workflows and putting them back into human control or quarantining a specific AI agent.

It might make sense that this capability is rolled out across critical national infrastructure as a priority and then once the model is in place, expanded from there.

Yes these rules can be written into code and commands, but such large-scale deployments will be an irresistible target to hackers. That’s why the UK private and public sector needs to ensure security levers are built into these programmes by design, rather than bolted on after an AI disaster takes place.”