♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. you're watching "the context." on bbc news. >> when it comes to technology that will shape the future like artificial intelligence, the u.k. and the u.s. are working together to make sure they are developed safely and responsibly and jointly. >> we will ensure this technological revolution makes us more secure. and not less so today the president and i agreed to work

together on a high and colton multilaterally -- including multilaterally. ♪ >> welcome to the program. rishi sunak and joe biden have been meeting and speaking, and ai was on the agenda. also on the program -- wildfires in canada, air pollution in the u.s.. a new el niño weather event. we will investigate what is going on with our climate. and in ukraine, president zelenskyy, seeing the damage done after the attack on that dam. first we are going to go to the u.s. the u.k. prime minister is in washington meeting the u.s. president, joe biden. those pictures are of something different. we will stick in the u.s.

within the last few minutes, the press conference wrapped up a little earlier on. this was their meeting in front of the cameras. they had priva meetings as well after that, talking about economic ties, support for ukraine, and artificial intelligence. that's what we will be talking about. first, let's hear from the u.s. president. >> mr. per minister, thank you for making the journey to washington earlier this week. we marked the 79th anniversary of d-day. a time and reminder of the broad history our nation's chair and the values that we have long stood together to defend. that is the unshakable foundation of the special relationship and it is a special relationship. there's no country closer to us than great britain. today as nato allies, partners in innovation, friends and with

a shared vision of the future, our two nations are ready to meet the challenges of our time and meet them together. >> let's hear a little bit of what mr. rishi sunak had to say, too. >> we have agreed the atlantic declaration, a new economic partnership for a new age. a kind that has ever been agreed before. yes, a partnersh that protects our citizens, but more than that, a test case for the kind of reimagined alliances president biden has spoken so eloquently about. that means new investment this week alone. 14 billion pounds committed into the u.k. creating thousands of jobs. it means a stronger supply chains. a new action plan on clean energy. it means reducing trade barriers and the technologies of the future with a new secure u.s. at a bridge helping tens of thousands of small businesses. >> let's go live to washington.

gary o'donoghue was watching and listening. that conference wrapped up and -- wrapped up in the last few minutes, there was a lot to get to, what stuck out to you? >> i think it was, quite interestingly, you mentioned ai as being important. there were a lot of warm words from joe biden about the british capacity to lead the conversation on that. he spoke about this idea of an autumn summit in the u.k. the british will take away a lot of encouragement from that. there will take away a lot of encouragement from the idea that the u.s. administration is buying into this economic cooperation. even if they can't have a full free-trade agreement. . there will be some areas where the u.s. believes it is important to cooperate. rare earth minerals were mentioned.

these are 17 elements of the periodic table that are crucial in future technologies. , at the moment china -- at the moment, china controls a lot of the mines where those materials come from. people in the u.s. and europe and the u.k. want to make sure that they can secure the supply lines and the supplies of those sorts of things for the future for their future technologies. some agreement from the british point of view. we are seeing rishi sunak's car just about to pass by behind me. here he is on his way back towards the northwest gate of the white house. heading back to the airport then straight off back to the u.k. what he will feel is a reasonable successful -- reasonably successful visit. >> thank you very much for that.

we will dig into one of those issues gary mentioned. artificial intelligence. david leslie is the director of ethics and responsible invasion and research at the alan turing institute, specializing in data and artificial intelligence. and the former head of the u.k. office for ai. thanks both for coming on the program. >> good to be here. thank you. >> let's start with this idea that artificial intelligence -- i suppose we suld start from absolute basics. tell us, artificial intelligence, briefly, what is it and what are the potential risks? >> there are many different ways that one can define ai. conventionally, we think of these as technologies or different methodologies and statistics and mathemacs that serve stand and cognitive functions in the world. we can think of machine learning. that draws in large amounts

of data and is trained on that data to make predictions, classifications about the world. we have knowledge of many different risks ai provides. we know because it is derived from real-world data, it will tend to replicate,, reproduce or even augment the biases or patterns of determation that exist in the world. more recently, the rollout of foundation models, we know these types of systems can be fire hoses for disinformation and misinformation and propaganda, cyber security threats. >> we are going to come to those specific risks in just a moment in a little bit more detail. we've got a good idea about what artificial inteigence is. some of the potential risks.

but why do you think the u.k. prime minister has made this such a focus of his trip to washington? >> this is incredibly important right now. we have heard from experts across the world calling on governments to start thinking about this. it's important to note, this is not the beginning of this conversation for the u.k. ai safety has been part and parcel of the conversation and policymaking in the u.k. from the outset. looking at the benefits alongside the risks have always been the way we have approached policymakingere. the national ai strategy we released two years ago has ai safety within it, under pillar three. the governance of ai. it makes the u.k. really suitable to convene a discussion like this. frankly for me, all of this type

is fantastic -- hype is fantastic because it means this work that has to be done quickly, with collaboration across the world can happen much more quickly, looking at ai safety more than they have in the past. >> interesting. let's go back to you because you were talking about things like misinformation. if the u.k. wanted to position themselves as some sort of central excellence and hub, and the regulatory sphere as well. , what kind of -- in the regulatory sphere as well, what kind of regulation is needed? >> we definitely need a series of codified controls on the way these systems are designed and built and deployed. we know algorithmic transparency is a priority. these need to be put in

statutory forms so regulators can in their own verticals be able to enforce transparency and accountability requirements. we also know there are various modes of assurance that need to be developed in terms of a documentation, proper documentation and certification of these systems. if anything, the u.k. has been ahead of the curve on this. there's a whole program in assurance and privacy, enhancing technologies that could support that. at the alan turing institute, we have developed the national public-sector guidance on ai ethics and safety. the national ai expandability guidance alongside the information commissioner's office. >> ok. >> we have been part of this conversation for quite a few years. >> let's build on what david is

saying. if the u.k. is ahead of the game, they have some claim to act as some kind of hub in the years ahead, overall effectiveness, if you have other countries that are not prepared to sign up to the same kind of regulations, principles, and a voluntary code or anything -- any voluntary code or anything, all those dangerous aspects of ai could be harnessed by someone, or others. >> absolutely fair. which is why we cannot think about ai safety, the things that were mentioned, the work that's been mentioned as a domestic issue. these are international issues. it requires international collaboration. that is not easy. but that is at the heart of my understanding of why this summit is being called in the autumn.

to bng those leaders who understand thawork needs to be done together. >> it is the speed. the technology is moving so fast. notorisly regulation is pretty slow. >> worldwide regulation is going to take a lot of time. collaborating on the actions we can individually take alongside this same level of guidance and principles and standards might be a good start. to agree to do them i think is really important. the people at the table cannot just be the regulators and governments and business people. we need to have civil society and people who are going to be affected by the regulations, so we can have that diversity of thinking out thought included in that thinking.

>> this idea that civil society and governments by end, it is also the companies involved but in many cases -- that in many cases, have they learned from other big tech, where faster regulation comes in, the better, even though that might sound counterintuitive? >> the need for regulation has been called for a cross the industry. we also need to be careful that there isn't degrees of regulatory capture here. this is the real priority of involving the public and a wide range of stakeholders in dermining what actually needs to happen to put those controls in place within the ecosystem of ai innovatio the only way we will get there is if we have a kind of multilateral international global conversation where you

have many different parts of society contributing to setting the future of galatian. -- the future of regulation. >> great to talk, we could talk about this usual complex issue forever. thank you. next we are going to head to canada. those wildfires. you may have seen the pictures around quebec. let's take a look at them. they are pretty extraordinary. 400 or so fires. 200 or so out of control. the impact is huge and over a huge area. this for example is 500 miles away, new york's times square. they are quality, really poor at the moment. they are trying to give out a million masks. the masks we've all got use to the covid times -- gotten used to during the covid times.

pretty remarkable, isn't? it? millions of people are being advised to stay inside and if they do go out, they should be wearing one of those masks. let's hear from some new yorkers. >> it was like the apocalypse. that's what i feel like. it's very scary. an dangerous, too. i have not had a mask on since covid. >> i haven't seen anything like this before. it's bonkers. >> i w completely shocked by the haze. you can smell this hrible smell. >> it feels like a videogame. it is crazy. >> let's look again at the haze. this is new york across the water in the distance. there was destruction at -- disruption at airports. events being canceled, too, around the region. baseball games.

the pride event in washington, d.c. here's more on the pollution. >> we can see it, we can smell it, we felt it. it was alarming and concerning. last night at 10 p.m., the air quality index hit 218. very unhealthy level. it really sent shockwaves throughout the entire city. >> we will speak now to a research associate professor in toxicology at the university of montana and in our mental researcher at m.i.t. -- an environmental researcher at m.i.t.. thank you for joining the program. we will stay with the air pollution side of it,

the toxicology professor is a person to speak to on this, talk us through it. what we see in those pictures, the haze, the orange color in the air, what is actually going on when you breathe it in? >> there's a lot of different things that are going on. there's the immediate effects right there in the lungs. it is affecting lung function. especially people who are at risk. it can exacerbate asthma or copd. it affects the respiratory immune system. such that long-term or relatively immediately you could be more susceptible to respiratory infections. then the strong potential of systemic effects. people with cardiovascular disease risk can have an exacerbation or even from -- or event from these types of exposures. >> have you chen that backdrop behind you of mountain cool fresh air to reinforce that point? [laughte those people in new york --

it is a serious issue. but is it just there for a couple of days? does that mean actually they can carry on and move around here? what kind of duration do you need for impacts to be serious? >> that's a very good question. these are areas of ongoing research. it depends, as i've told other people that have asked this question. as a toxicologist, we say, dose makes the poison. it could be a low lived exposure but the levels they are seeing are pretty snificant as opposed to a more chronic high level air pollution that levels are not as high could have a similar effect. i know the levels they are seeing right now, we saw a handful of years ago and the massive fire here. the people were exposed over months and we saw significant effects on lung function 1-2 years later. noto say that this will happen here. but those are potentials. depending on how long they are

exposed and how bad they are exposed. >> interesting. these wildfires, this is something that we've just got to get use to come of the fact that they are going to happen more often? >> actually, what we are seeing is wildfire season from coast to coast, from east to west. the distribution of fires across the country is really unusual. it's happening from coast to coast. it is important to prepared for longer fire seasons and definitely we will see more of these kinds of fires more intensified. even in eastern parts of the country.

there is no fire on almost all the territories. serious climate change happening there. >> absolutely great to get your thoughts. thank you both for coming on the program. >> thank you. >> around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. we will take a look at some news here in the u.k. now. the former green partyeade is tstd down as an mp after 10 years in the job. she says the pressure of constituency work has left her unable to focus as much as she wanted on what she called the existential challenges of the nature and climate emergencies. a 14-year-old boy who died has been named locally. the teenager was taken to hospital and died shortly afterwards.

another 14-year-old b incident, and what the school has described as isolated. there's been a shift in how we do our grocery shopping since the covid pandemic. retail data compiled told the bbc that shoppers are doing less chopping -- let's shopping, sticking with loyalty goods. we will get the latest followed from the attack on the dam in ukraine. president solesky has been in her son -- in ukraine.

aid agencies have been too slow to respond. here he is in a hospital. he want to see people who were getting treatment. people are also being treated outside while efforts are still going on. this is a couple of hours after the visit of zelenskyy. the area came under intense russian fire, making it even harder for rescue workers. our correspondent has spent the day on the dnieper river. >> it is hard to estimate for cubic miles of water until you are in it. they have not stopped for two days. searching for people trapped. >> why do you want to leave? >> they've said, we don't want to leave, there are older people

who can't get away. give us your power banks so they can charge devices. >> all the water levels have stabilized. but they are still daunting lehigh. -- dauntingly high. we passed this strange theme park ride. we are having to weave through. no one yet has taken them up on the offer to leave. why do you think people don't want to leave their home? >> because there are many, many people that are stupid -- it is not ok. every time, more water, more and more. >> when this finally recedes, you wonder what will be left. a war, an invasion by russia which takes everything. >> we will go live now,

we are joined by a volunteer who helped today. thank you so much for coming on the program. what was it like out there trying to help people? what were the conditions like? it is so hard now, because it was a really hard day. there was a hard brush attack to the space. our volunteers and our partners and other organizations try to protect people and pets from their homes, but the rockets just try to destroy.

i had about two minutes for my food. we were attacked. everyone near me, it was maybe 50 or 70 volunteers, policem en, people from the government, the rescue mission going to the basement because the russians did not stop. >> how close? do you know how close the shelling was to you? >> it was close to me. maybe 40 or 5 meters. i had just finished my walk. many volunteers give food for people.

>> that is an absolutely remarkable story. i am delighted that you are safe. good luck with all your efforts. thank you very much for talking to us and sparing time. we really appriate it. and that is narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler fodation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.