In his meeting with Joe Biden this week, Rishi Sunak proposed a research centre and regulatory body for artificial intelligence in Britain. This raises a dilemma for governments worldwide: how can humans reap the benefits of AI without creating an uncontrollable, possibly existential threat?

The technological leaps in recent months have captured the public imagination, but as we are all now aware, an AI clever enough to cure cancer and create clean energy will also be so smart that it could inflict huge damage.