Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, has issued a directive to ministers to intensify efforts in harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to save costs, enhance the UK’s sluggish economic growth, and rejuvenate failing public services.
John Glen, Hunt’s deputy at the Treasury, has been tasked with producing a report ahead of the Autumn Statement on boosting productivity in public services, with a specific focus on accelerating the adoption of AI.
Meanwhile, Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, believes that AI technology can revolutionize the National Health Service (NHS) by increasing productivity without placing additional burdens on staff.
Hunt’s goal is to stimulate growth, cut costs in the public sector, and create fiscal space for tax cuts before the 2024 general election. However, time is running out. The Treasury recently reminded ministers of the urgent need to find efficiency savings, and Hunt’s allies claim that Glen is pushing for a faster rollout of AI.
An AI revolution has become the primary focus of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Hunt in recent weeks as they strive to break the cycle of low growth and high taxes.
On Sunday, Sunak appointed Ian Hogarth, a tech investor and entrepreneur, as the chair of the government’s foundation-model task force, which will explore AI development.
Hogarth will also play a key role in the first global AI summit, hosted by Sunak in the UK in December. The summit was announced by the Prime Minister alongside President Joe Biden at the White House earlier this month.
Chloe Smith, the Secretary of State for Science and Technology, expects world leaders and industry experts to attend the crucial summit, according to her statement to the FT.
Hogarth’s task force will conduct research on AI safety to develop secure and reliable foundation models. These models are general-purpose AI systems trained on vast datasets that can be applied to various tasks across the economy.
Downing Street revealed that this task force will be modeled after the successful vaccine task force established in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and will receive an initial government funding of £100mn.
Regarding AI, Sunak commented, “The more artificial intelligence progresses, the greater the opportunities to grow our economy and provide better public services. But with such potential to transform our future, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to ensure AI develops safely and responsibly.”
Sunak believes that Britain can take a leading role in the secure and minimally regulated advancement of AI, diverging from the potentially more stringent approach likely to be adopted by the EU. Hunt is also a fervent supporter of AI.
However, former Chancellor Sajid Javid cautioned last week that Sunak would need to allocate significantly more funds to the sector, arguing that the £900mn allocated to support AI with a new supercomputer was insufficient.
Meanwhile, Barclay has urged colleagues to shift the perception that productivity implies working harder and wishes to utilize technology to eliminate bottlenecks in the NHS and provide earlier treatment for conditions.
Last week, at an NHS conference, Barclay highlighted “the rapid advancements in AI” and revealed that his department was exploring how AI could improve patient safety in maternity services.
Smith stated to the FT, “In fields like AI, we believe that the UK can play a unique role that builds on our existing strengths but also draws on some of the distinctions from larger blocs.”
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