Protesters at the gates of Downing Street

CAMPAIGNERS who have been calling for the government to take a stand against the “reckless” AI race demonstrated outside Downing Street following a surge in support over the past fortnight.

Pause AI UK has been calling on the government to force tech firms not to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence for the past three years.

Tens of thousands of people have signed up to the campaign in recent days following high-profile stories about rogue AI agents hacking companies and serious warnings about a 10 per cent chance of human extinction by the end of the decade.

At the protest (above) on Tuesday, Joseph Miller, director of Pause AI UK, told Extra: “If we don’t pause, 10 per cent is somewhat optimistic. If we do pause, then we can get things under control. I don’t think we will go extinct but I think it is because we will realise how dangerous this is and actually stop doing it.”

Mr Miller and fellow campaigner Alistair Stewart mounted the first ever Pause AI UK protest in 2023 outside the Google DeepMind London office.

Three years on, the campaign’s warnings have finally got mainstream media attention. He said: “The first ever protest was organised by Alistair. I showed up. There were just the two of us. We have grown pretty steadily over the last three years, an exponential curve mimicking the curve of AI.

“And then suddenly last week it has all completely changed. Suddenly Jacob Coxon tells the world AI researchers earnestly bel-ieve AI could kill us all by the end of the decade. Suddenly the message clicks. We have huge numbers of people joining for the first time. It is all over the news. Everyone is trying to grapple with these questions.”

Protesters at the gates of Downing Street

He added: “You can im­agine some pretty scary stuff where a swarm of agents take down power plants. You can imagine the banking system being compromised. Let’s hope we only have to see the hacking, rather than the biological threats.”

Industry experts say there is a “race” between US and China to develop AI that has got out of control. Some sceptics say the announcements could be part of a marketing ploy or even part of a political brinkmanship between int­ernational superpowers.

Mr Miller said: “It is totally understandable people might think this is some bizarre marketing stunt.

“But in fact it isn’t. Many of the world’s top scientists agree with this risk. I wish it was a hoax but I don’t think so. I have been trying to mobilise the community that cares about AI safety to stand up against this reckless race since 2023.

“The obvious question is what do we do about this? We need everybody to be aware of this risk. What we are asking for is easier than climate change, we are not asking people to stop using energy, which is a difficult thing for people to do.

“We are just asking not to develop the next generation of AI.”

At the annual TUC Congress in Brighton on Tuesday, first secretary of state Louise Haigh – prime minister Andy Burnham’s deputy – said the government needed to “heed the warnings” of those “at the forefront” of developing the technology.

She said the government was “ready to work with international partners” to prioritise public safety and national security, and she added: “There are clearly huge risks to our national security and society if the right guard-rails are not put in place.”