Plan to ‘unleash AI’ across UK revealed
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The government will set out plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK to boost economic growth and deliver public services more efficiently.
The government said the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan announced on Monday will be supported by leading technology companies, which it said have invested £14 billion in various projects and created 13,250 jobs.
It includes plans to focus on developing growth areas where the technology will be used to help tackle problems such as potholes.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Keir told the BBC: “I want to make sure it reaches everyone from every background and reaches every community across the UK.”
Last summer, the government tasked AI consultant Matt Clifford with developing a UK AI action plan.
He came back with 50 recommendations, which are currently being implemented.
One of these is for the UK to invest in a new supercomputer to increase computing power. It marks a change in strategy by the Labor government, which abandoned plans by the previous government to build a supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh.
Shadow science secretary Alan Mai said Labor was “delivering a mock government in the digital age”.
The push for artificial intelligence is seen as a way to cut public spending, but Mai accuses Labour’s economic policies of undermining that aim.
“Labour’s economic mismanagement and lack of inspiring plans will mean Britain is left behind,” he said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said artificial intelligence “will drive incredible change in the country” and has the “potential to transform the lives of working people”.
“Our plans will make Britain a world leader,” Sir Keir said.
Kyle told the BBC there was no reason why the UK couldn’t create technology companies of the same size as Google, Amazon and Apple.
“Currently, we don’t have any cutting-edge concepts, cutting-edge companies that are owned by the UK. We have DeepMind, which originated in the UK but is now owned by the US,” he said.
“Now we want to retain all of these elements to enable innovation and investment on this scale in the UK.”
DeepMind creates technology that enables computers to play video and board games.
It was founded by three students at University College London and was later acquired by Google.
The British government estimates, based on data from the International Monetary Fund, that fully embracing artificial intelligence could bring an average annual value of 47 billion pounds to the UK within ten years.
How Artificial Intelligence Initiatives Impact You
- The public sector will use AI to help its staff spend less time managing and more time delivering services.
- A number of “artificial intelligence growth zones” are to be created across the UK, involving large-scale construction projects and new employment opportunities.
- Artificial intelligence will take input from cameras across the country to inspect roads and spot potholes that need fixing.
- Teachers and small business owners are cited as two groups that could start using AI for things like faster planning and record-keeping.
- Artificial intelligence is already being used in UK hospitals to perform important tasks, such as diagnosing cancer faster, and will continue to be used to support the NHS.
Artificial intelligence ‘isn’t perfect’
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said “we’re still at the foot of this mountain” and that artificial intelligence was a developing technology.
He said that so far, about 30,000 teachers in the UK have used artificial intelligence teaching assistants developed by the government.
“This could save teachers about three-and-a-half hours a week, giving them back Sunday evening time, if you like, in terms of lesson planning and classroom preparation,” he told BBC Breakfast.
McFadden said artificial intelligence applications used by the health service could detect some cancers earlier that are undetectable by the human eye.
However, he admitted that AI “isn’t perfect” after Apple faced calls for it. Withdraw controversial features Generating inaccurate news alerts on its latest iPhone.
“We have to focus on safety and opportunity,” McFadden said.
“The truth is, you can’t choose not to do it. Or if you do, you’ll just see it develop somewhere else.”
Technology companies Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl have committed £14 billion to build relevant artificial intelligence infrastructure in the UK.
This is in addition to the £25bn of investment in AI announced at the International Investment Summit.
Vantage Data Centers is working to build one of Europe’s largest data center campuses in Wales.
Over the next three years, Kyndryl will create up to 1,000 artificial intelligence-related jobs in Liverpool, forming a new technology center.
Nscale has signed a contract to build an artificial intelligence data center in Loughton, Essex, by 2026.
The UK will set up artificial intelligence growth zones and rapidly develop planning proposals to create new infrastructure, the government said.
The first project will take place in Callum, Oxfordshire, with more projects to be announced this summer, focusing on de-industrialized areas.
“I wanted to find areas of the country that really need future jobs because past jobs have started to dwindle, and take advantage of the fact that those areas generally have very good grid connections to supply electricity that currently have a surplus of energy,” Kyle said.
Other parts of the plan include a new national database to securely protect public data, and an AI for Energy Commission, led by Keir and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, which will focus on the energy needs of the technology .