RISHI SUNAK’S light-touch regulatory approach to artificial intelligence (AI) is failing to protect workers from exploitation and reap its benefits for public services, unions and experts warned today.

The Prime Minister said in a speech that the dangers of the emerging technology should be treated as on a par with those of nuclear weapons and pandemics.

Yet he added that the Tories would not “rush to regulate” AI and offered no policy framework to make the most of its potential benefits.

Mr Sunak was accused of offering a “false dichotomy” between regulation and the economy and warned that no review of AI strategy can be effective without union consultation.

Mary Towers, AI lead at the TUC, which last month launched a taskforce on the technology, said: “AI is already making life-changing decisions, like how people are hired, performance managed and even fired.

“But employment law is not keeping pace, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination.

“There was no mention of this urgent issue in the PM’s speech.

“The government should be regulating now to beef up workplace protections.”

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) AI lead Carsten Jung welcomed Mr Sunak’s speech, saying that AI firms should not be “marking their own homework.

“But to do so we need well-resourced national supervisors with democratic accountability, not just a high-level scientific body,” he added.

“[Mr Sunak] says the UK won’t rush to regulate. But I think this implies a false dichotomy.

“He stresses the potential benefits of AI … but he offers no policy to harness them.

“Use cases will remain scattered, directionless and exclusive without strong policy frameworks. We need an industrial strategy for AI.”

Prospect deputy general secretary Andrew Pakes criticised the lack of AI regulation by the government.

He said the fast-advancing technology offered opportunities for better work while threatening jobs and exacerbating prejudices.

He argued that Britain could only become a global leader in AI if unions and workers potentially affected by any changes were involved in a review of its regulation.

Shadow science secretary Peter Kyle added: “Rishi Sunak should back up his words with action and publish the next steps on how we can ensure the public is protected.

“We are still yet to see concrete proposals on how the government is going to regulate the most powerful AI models.”

The government will host an AI safety summit at Bletchley Park next week.