Getty ImagesBritish Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that artificial intelligence represents “huge potential” to renew public services in the United Kingdom.
In a speech outlining the government’s plans to use AI across the UK to boost growth and deliver services more efficiently, the Prime Minister said the government had a responsibility to make AI “work for working people”.
The government said the AI Opportunities Action Plan is supported by leading technology companies, some of which have allocated £14 billion to various projects, creating 13,250 jobs.
It includes plans for growth areas where development will be focused, and technology will be used to help address issues such as potholes.
But the announcement raised questions about how much time and money would be required to make the government’s vision a reality Concerns about borrowing costs and the pound’s recent decline.
While International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates support the claim that AI can increase productivity, they also say that changes may come gradually.
The government has commissioned AI consultant Matt Clifford to develop a UK action plan to support the growth and use of AI in public services.
He came back with fifty recommendations that are now being implemented.
Among these initiatives is for the UK to invest in a new supercomputer to boost computing power, which represents a change in strategy after the Labor government abandoned the previous government’s plans to build a supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh.
Sir Keir said AI would “drive amazing change” in the country and “has the potential to transform the lives of workers”.
“We will work to make artificial intelligence work for everyone in our country,” he added, adding that “the battle for tomorrow’s jobs is taking place today.”
Sir Keir said the UK would become one of the “superpowers” in AI, echoing former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s drive to boost the UK sector so it can compete with that of the US and China.
At the time, many of Sunak’s proposals were geared towards mitigating future risks of highly powerful AI systems.
In October 2023, he said that artificial intelligence could enable faster and easier production of chemical and biological weapons Terrorist groups use them to spread misinformation.
He added that in the worst-case scenario, society may lose control over artificial intelligence.
for him Government focus on “safety” It appears largely absent in this new plan – instead focusing on maximizing opportunities, growth and innovation.
Professor Dame Wendy Hall said the proposals were “ambitious”, but necessary to help the UK keep up with the pace of development.
“It’s an ambitious plan but there is a lot of upfront investment,” she told BBC Radio’s Today programme.
“It will take some time to see a return on this investment and they should be in it for the long term.”
How the AI plan could affect you
Among the government’s proposals are:
- Artificial intelligence will be used by the public sector to enable its workers to spend less time doing administration and more time providing services.
- Several “AI growth zones” will be created across the UK, involving large building projects and new jobs.
- The artificial intelligence will be fed through cameras across the country to scan roads and identify potholes that need to be fixed
- Educators and small business owners have been highlighted as two groups that can start using AI for things like faster planning and record keeping.
- AI is already being used in UK hospitals to carry out important tasks such as diagnosing cancer more quickly, and will continue to be used to support the NHS.
The government has also proposed boosting the UK’s infrastructure as part of the plan, with technology companies allocating £14bn for large data centers or technology hubs.
But Shadow Science Minister Alan Mack said Labor was “offering a similar government in the digital age”.
While the push for artificial intelligence is seen as a way to cut public spending, Mack accused Labor of undermining that goal with its economic policies.
He added: “Labour’s economic mismanagement and uninspiring plan will mean that Britain will be left behind.”
Science and Technology Minister Peter Kyle told the BBC there was no reason why the UK could not create technology companies on the same scale as Google, Amazon and Apple.
“At the moment, we don’t have any sophisticated, cutting-edge, British-owned concept companies.”
He highlighted DeepMind, which created technology that enables computers to run video and board games, as an example of a former British-born company that is now US-owned.
It was founded by three students from University College London before it was acquired by Google.
Tim Flagg, chief operating officer of UKAI – a trade body representing British AI companies – said the proposals take a “narrow view” of shareholders in the sector and focus too much on big tech.
“AI innovation cuts across industries, from small businesses to non-technology sectors, all of which are driving the new industrial revolution,” he said.
“It is time for the government to recognize this broader definition and harness the full potential of AI across the UK.”
AI ‘not perfect’
There are ongoing questions about the risks of introducing AI systems that can “hallucinate” or make things up, or discriminate against certain groups of people due to bias.
Cabinet Office Minister Pat Macfadyen said “we are only at the foot of this” and AI was a cutting-edge technology.
He said the government-developed AI teaching assistant has been used by about 30,000 teachers in England so far.
“It saves teachers about three-and-a-half hours a week – and gives them a Sunday evening, if you like, in terms of preparing lessons and setting up classrooms,” he told the BBC.
McFadden said that artificial intelligence applications used by the health service can detect some types of cancer early that cannot be detected by the human eye.
However, he acknowledged that AI “is not perfect” after Apple faced calls Controversial feature withdrawal Which generated inaccurate news alerts on its latest iPhones.
“We have to keep an eye on safety as well as opportunity,” McFadden said.
“The reality is that you can’t simply opt out of this. Or if you do, you’ll see it develop elsewhere.”
