Channel companies have welcomed new government plans announced in the King’s Speech today to develop AI and tackle the growing problem of cybercriminals.
But they have also called for more to be done on both fronts.
In the King’s Speech, Charles III said that government would “seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”.
Jonathan Mckenzie, senior contact center product manager at 8x8, commended government’s commitment to advancing AI, but added that he was keen to see how tighter AI regulations could shape the contact centre industry.
“Whilst laxer monitoring of AI allows contact centres to deploy Large Language Models (LLMs) more freely to track customer behaviour and trends, improve efficiency and cut costs, tighter regulation would be beneficial for a number of reasons,” said Mckenzie. “Firstly, contact centres deal with a great amount of personal and sensitive information, hence, the government should consider enforcing stricter data privacy and security measures.
“Secondly, the government should introduce guidelines for the ethical use of AI. This would prevent biases and discrimination against any customer groups in customer service interactions which is a prominent concern for LLM adoption in contact centres currently.
“Lastly, regulating AI more closely should encourage innovation within the sector, pushing contact centres to adopt advanced AI technologies to stay competitive whilst adhering to legal standards. This in turn should drive quicker development and adoption of effective AI technologies that enhance customer experience without compromising service quality.
“Ultimately, generative AI and LLMs have real potential to transform the contact centre industry and ensure agile customer service. However, the government needs to act swiftly with AI regulation to prevent toxic chatbot responses and abuse from becoming a greater issue.”
In addition, King Charles said in his speech that a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will be introduced to expand regulation to cover more digital services and supply chains, help regulators to ensure cyber security measures and mandate increased incident reporting to improve government’s response to cyber attacks.
He also announced a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, which will enable new, “innovative” uses of data to help boost the economy. The new legislation will establish digital verification services including digital identity products to help people quickly and securely identify themselves when they use online services.
Al Lakhani, CEO of IDEE, said that government had “finally woken up to the massive threat that cybercriminals pose” to public infrastructure.
“After an election campaign that ignored one of the biggest threats to national security, the new legislation requiring private companies in public sector supply chains to beef up their cybersecurity could be a real game-changer,” said Lakhani. “I can sleep a little easier tonight knowing someone in charge is finally taking action.
But he cautioned that such a move would only go so far in protecting the UK’s defences.
“This move, while necessary, doesn’t fully protect the UK’s defences, and it would be foolish to think we’ve suddenly addressed all the vulnerabilities that will remain as the bill is implemented,” said Lakhani. “It might be hard to believe, but this is the first time cybersecurity legislation has been updated in six years – imagine how far behind we’ve fallen compared to the rapidly evolving capabilities of hostile actors in that time.
“We can and must go further, and additional legislation and resources will be needed to tackle the ongoing risks facing the UK’s long-neglected digital infrastructure. Credential phishing and password-based attacks remain the most common methods used by both state and non-state actors to undermine our democracy. I just hope the government and businesses continue to prioritise transitive trust and same-device MFA 2.0 solutions, as they are the quickest and most effective means to prevent such attacks.”