King Charles III cautions over artificial intelligence’s dual‑edged potential
In a ceremony at St James’s Palace honouring leading technologists, King Charles III issued a pointed reminder of the risks attached to rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
Presenting the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QE Prize) to innovators including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, he stressed that while AI holds enormous transformative power for good, it also harbours serious dangers. Huang confirmed the King handed him a letter emphasising “AI safety” and spoke of the software’s everyday use in his work.
The monarch remarked that “there’s a lot of bad actors around,” underlining that the pace of new technologies is “just rapid”. He called for vigilance as AI’s potential for disruption grows across sectors.
Among the prize recipients was Fei‑Fei Li, a pioneer in computer vision, who noted that the King and others at the event emphasised ensuring that AI remains “doing good for people” while being aware of its risks. She described AI as a “very powerful technology, as all powerful technologies are, they’re a double‑edged sword.”
The event served both as a celebration of technological achievement and a cautionary moment: a reminder that while AI promises breakthroughs in areas like healthcare and manufacturing, it also raises challenges such as workforce disruption, decision‑automation, deep‑fakes and concentrated power.