Some would say yes, and recent examples of rogue AI making its own decisions prove there is a risk. Some Anthropic experts believe there is a 10% chance that AI could decide to eradicate humans in the future. What nobody can dispute is that AI is in its early stages as a technological pillar of the global economy and wider society. We are in a transitional mode, more Beta testing is necessary. But the potential is huge in every aspect of daily life, from payments to medical procedures, self driving vehicles to drones, insurance to defence.
Maybe a co-opted approach between govt agencies, business and human rights advocates is the way ahead? A pooling of knowledge and viewpoints on the required minimum regulation of AI, the direction of future research and its applications across various sectors? Here’s the word from the Chartered Govt Institute;
New research from The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland has found that organisations are embedding artificial intelligence into decision-making faster than governance systems are evolving to oversee it.
Drawing on evidence from governance professionals across the corporate, public, charity and education sectors, the research found broad agreement that AI adoption is advancing faster than organisations’ ability to govern it effectively. The study combined 16 cross-sector roundtables involving 61 participants with survey responses from around 100 governance professionals.
The findings come amid renewed scrutiny of AI safety and control. Current and former researchers at AI company Anthropic have this week raised concerns about the development of increasingly capable AI systems, while Anthropic has separately published an assessment of four incidents in which Claude models gained unauthorised access to real third-party systems during cybersecurity testing.
The findings show that AI is now widely used across organisations for activities ranging from reporting and analysis to compliance and governance processes. However, many boards lack clear visibility over how AI is being used across their organisations, particularly where adoption is taking place informally outside approved governance processes. The report found that shadow AI use occurs at least occasionally in most organisations surveyed.
The report suggests that many organisations are using AI without the governance frameworks, assurance mechanisms and oversight capability needed to govern it effectively. Formal governance infrastructure remains limited, including frameworks for evaluating pilots, measuring how AI is scaled and establishing clear accountability.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in organisational decision-making, responsibility remains firmly with boards and senior leaders. The research identified a growing gap between operational adoption and governance maturity. While AI use is becoming routine across many functions, formal AI governance structures remain underdeveloped.
This becomes particularly important as AI systems become more autonomous. The report warns that emerging agentic and semi-autonomous systems, capable of initiating actions with reduced human input, will require clearer escalation protocols, stronger controls and explicit accountability structures. The research also identified a significant capability gap. Although awareness of AI among boards is relatively high, practical competence remains limited.
Training received by respondents was weighted heavily towards basic awareness, and its average effectiveness rating for preparing people to challenge AI outputs and integrate them into governance processes was just 2.4 out of five. Respondents strongly supported moving beyond basic awareness towards practical board-level competence. Almost three-quarters supported making AI literacy a mandatory component of director induction and ongoing professional development.
Read the research
Dr Valentina Dotto, Policy Adviser at The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland and author of the report, said:
“Our research found broad agreement across sectors that AI adoption is advancing faster than organisations’ ability to govern it effectively.
“Many boards recognise the opportunities AI presents, yet they often have limited visibility over how these systems are being used across their organisations. Governance frameworks, oversight structures and board capability are not developing at the same pace as adoption.
“Boards need clear oversight of where AI is being used, how decisions are being influenced and what controls are in place to ensure outcomes remain explainable and accountable.”
The report argues that governance is increasingly shifting from reviewing individual outputs towards overseeing the systems that generate and influence them. This places greater emphasis on transparency, auditability, assurance and organisational controls.
The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland is calling on organisations to strengthen visibility over AI use, embed AI within governance and risk frameworks, improve board oversight capability and ensure accountability remains clear wherever AI is deployed.
The report provides a practical governance framework covering accountability, control, capability and assurance, and recommends that organisations consider AI across the full system lifecycle, from procurement and deployment through to monitoring and retirement.
As AI becomes more deeply integrated into governance, compliance and reporting activities, the Institute argues that organisations should approach AI as a governance issue requiring board oversight and organisational accountability.
Be the first to comment