PM plans to ‘unleash AI’ across UK to boost growth

PM plans to ‘unleash AI’ across UK to boost growth .Britain to ‘unleash’ AI to turbocharge economy. LONDON – Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due on Jan 13 to outline an “action plan” to make Britain the “the world leader” in artificial intelligence (AI) and spark its flagging economy.

His Labour administration said AI would be “unleashed” across the whole of the country, with the “full weight” of its half-a-million-strong civil service getting behind the endeavour.

“Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country,” Mr Starmer said in a statement late on Jan 12.

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.”

PM plans to ‘unleash AI’

Mr Starmer was due to lay out fuller details of Britain’s approach to AI technology, which is raising complex questions for governments around the world, during a speech later on Jan 13.

In the Jan 12 press release ahead of the address, the Premier said the AI industry “needs a government that is on its side, one that will not sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers”.

The government’s 50 proposals include creating what it calls “dedicated AI growth zones” designed to speed up planning proposals for data centres and other AI infrastructure.

It also plans to increase server capacity twentyfold by 2030, such as by building “a brand-new supercomputer with enough AI power to play itself at chess half a million times a second”.

The government said the proposals would mean the public sector would spend less time “doing admin”.

It noted that hospitals were already using AI to help diagnose breast cancer quicker and said the technology had the potential to spot potholes and help improve roads.

Mr Starmer’s administration added that AI could be worth £47 billion (S$78.7 billion) to Britain each year over a decade.

It announced that three tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – had committed to spending £14 billion on AI in Britain, leading to the creation of more than 13,000 jobs.

Mr Starmer has put firing up Britain’s economy at the heart of his agenda since taking office last July.

But weaker-than-expected growth, rising borrowing costs and a falling pound is complicating his task, meaning he could be forced to make spending cuts or hike taxes in 2025.

Countries are trying to figure out how to harness the benefits of AI while also regulating the technology amid fears that robots could one day outsmart humans if left unchecked.

AI is also increasingly being blamed for the spread online of misinformation and deepfake pornography. AFP

The government is to set out plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK to boost growth and deliver public services more efficiently.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan being announced on Monday will be backed by leading tech firms, which are said to have committed £14bn towards various projects, creating 13,250 jobs.

It includes plans for growth zones where development will be focused, and the technology will be used to help tackle issues such as potholes.

Last summer, the government tasked AI advisor Matt Clifford with creating a UK action plan for artificial intelligence.

He came back with 50 recommendations and all of them are now being implemented.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said AI “will drive incredible change” in the country and “has the potential to transform the lives of working people”.

“Our plan will make Britain the world leader,” Sir Keir said.

Kyle told the BBC there was no reason why the UK could not create tech companies on the same scale as Google, Amazon, and Apple.

“At the moment, we don’t have any frontier conceptual, cutting-edge companies that are British-owned. We have DeepMind, which started in Britain but is now American-owned,” he said.

“Now we want to keep all of those ingredients that enable that kind of scale of innovation and investment to exist in Britain.”

DeepMind created technology enabling computers to play video and board games.

It was founded by three students at University College London before being acquired by Google.

Using figures from the International Monetary Fund, the government estimates that fully embracing AI could be worth up to an average £47bn to the UK each year over a decade.

How the AI plan could affect you

• AI will be used by the public sector to enable its workers to spend less time doing admin and more time delivering services.
• Several “AI Growth Zones” around the UK will be created, involving big building projects and new jobs.
• AI will be fed through cameras around the country to inspect roads and spot potholes that need fixing.
• Teachers and small business owners were highlighted as two groups that could start using AI for things like faster planning and record-keeping.
• AI is already being used in UK hospitals for important tasks such as diagnosing cancer more quickly and it will continue to be used to support the NHS.

Tech companies Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl have committed £14bn to build the relevant AI infrastructure in the UK.

This is in addition to the £25bn AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.

Vantage Data Centres is working on building one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales.

Kyndryl will create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years, forming a new tech hub.

Nscale has signed a contract to build an AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, by 2026.

The government says “AI Growth Zones” will be set up across the UK, with speedy planning proposals in place to create new infrastructure.

The first of these will be in Culham, Oxfordshire and more will be announced this summer with a focus on de-industrialised areas.

“I want to find parts of the country where there is a real need for the jobs of the future because the jobs of the past have already started to dwindle and utilise the fact that there is often very good grid connections in those areas which can supply an excess of energy currently,” Kyle said.

Other parts of the plan include a new National Data Library to safely secure public data and an AI Energy Council led by Kyle and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband which will focus on the energy demands of the technology.

The Conservatives said the government’s plans “will not support the UK to become a tech and science superpower”.

Accusing them of cutting £1.3bn in funding for “Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer and AI research”, shadow science secretary Alan Mak said Labour was “delivering analogue government in a digital age”.

“AI does have the potential to transform public services, but Labour’s economic mismanagement and uninspiring plan will mean Britain is left behind,” he added.

But Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “AI is a powerful tool that will help grow our economy, make our public services more efficient and open up new opportunities to help improve living standards.

With Thanks and Reference to :https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr05jykzkxo And https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/uk-to-unleash-ai-to-turbocharge-economy