Ministers have announced a huge public rollout of artificial intelligence in a plan for AI to be ‘mainlined into the veins’ of the nation, boosting growth and improving living standards.
Keir Starmer will launch an AI Opportunities Action Plan to unleash computing power across Britain, with promises of generating billions of pounds and thousands of jobs.
The plan, issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, plans a 20-fold increase public computing capacity by 2030, deploying AI to ‘transform the lives of working people’.
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The Prime Minister said: “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.
“But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge the Plan for Change. That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services. That’s the change this government is delivering.”
The plan will set out to speed up building planning, cut down admin for teachers and help to spot potholes on roads -Credit:PA
The Prime Minister has said the AI race is “speeding up and we must continue to move fast”, in the Government’s response to the action plan. The PM is agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford following his review last year.
This includes creating new AI ‘growth zones’, the first of which is set to be in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority.
Three major tech firms – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – have committed £14billion to build AI infrastructure as part of the plan and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. This is top of the £25billion in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.
The Action Plan also sets out to build a brand new supercomputer with enough AI power to play itself at chess half a million times a second.
Peter Kyle, Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary, said: “AI has the potential to change all of our lives but for too long, we have been curious and often cautious bystanders to the change unfolding around us. With this plan, we become agents of that change.
“We already have remarkable strengths we can tap into when it comes to AI – building our status as the cradle of computer science and intelligent machines and establishing ourselves as the third largest AI market in the world.
“This government is determined that the UK is not left behind in the global race for AI, that’s why the actions we commit to will ensure that the benefits are spread throughout the UK so all citizens will reap the rewards of the bet we make today. This is how we’re putting our Plan for Change in motion.”
AI is already helping to detect and diagnose breast cancers in the NHS -Credit:PA
The announcement has been welcomed by technology bosses, including Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer at OpenAI, which released ChatGPT, who said: “From the locomotive to the Colossus computer, the UK has a rich history of leadership in tech innovation and the research and development of AI.
“The government’s AI action plan – led by the Prime Minister and Secretary Peter Kyle – recognises where AI development is headed and sets the UK on the right path to benefit from its growth.
“The UK has an enormous national resource in the talent of its people, institutions and businesses which together, can leverage AI to advance the country’s national interest.”
The Government says AI is already widely used in hospitals across the UK to ‘build an NHS fit for the future’, spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing cancers quicker, and discharging patients faster.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has warned the UK ‘cannot press a pause button’ on AI, despite the risks and public scepticism.
Speaking to LBC radio, McFadden said: “There are going to be mistakes made, there are going to be things that go wrong, but we must not allow all of that to encourage us to press a pause button on one of the most exciting technological innovations to happen for many years. Of course, you’ve got to build safety into it, you’ve got to be aware of the risks.
“But the point of the action plan being published by the Government today is to make sure that the United Kingdom is a welcome home for the investment so it doesn’t just go elsewhere, and that we are relentlessly curious and enthusiastic about the applications to increase productivity in both the public and the private sectors. That is the prize that awaits us.”
McFadden compared AI to the advent of electricity in people’s homes, adding: “There was scepticism sometimes because people said ‘what would we use it for?’
“Imagine that question today when you look around your own home, and that is the way that we’ve got to think about this.”