Artificial intelligence will be “maintained in the veins” of the nation, officials have announced, with a multibillion pound investment in UK computing capacity, despite widespread public fear of the technology’s effects.
Keir Starmer will launch a sweeping action plan to increase 20-fold the amount of AI in public computing by 2030 and empower AI to develop everything from spotting bottles to teaching teachers.
Labor’s plan to “fight” AI includes a personal pledge from the prime minister to make Britain a “world leader” in a country that has been transformed by a series of significant breakthroughs over the past three years. The government’s policy includes a potentially controversial proposal to unlock public data to encourage the growth of AI businesses.
Ministers believe that AI could help Britain’s anemic economic growth and, according to their own forecasts, deliver an economic boost of up to 470bn over the next decade.
The action plan marks a change in tone from the UK government that we have previously noted in tackling the most serious issues “Terminal” fear from AI, to risks involving cyber security, disinformation and bioweapons.
Tech companies including Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI have taken the initiative as Starmer said “the AI industry needs governance on their part”. Regulators are said to “actively support innovation” to set up a potential clash with those who believe regulators’ primary duty is to protect the public from harm.
But experts on the effects of AI on society, jobs and the environment have urged caution. The three words most commonly associated with AI in the public are “robot,” “scary” and “worrying,” respectively government research last month
The prime minister is also aiming to accelerate investment in new miniaturized nuclear reactors as he seeks to power the energy-hungry technology.
Susie Alegre, a lawyer specializing in technology and human rights, cites the Post Office scandal as “a reminder of the dangers of placing too much trust in technology without the resources to provide effective accountability.”
He said: “Any future UK policy with AI needs to look at the real-world consequences for people and the planet and not look away from the real risks.”
Starmer urged everyone in his cabinet to make AI adoption a top priority and said: “Artificial intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From personalizing lessons, to keeping small businesses with sustainable records, to speeding up planning applications, it has the power to transform the lives of working people.
“But the AI industry needs control on the part of those who don’t sit back and let opportunities slip through their fingers. We cannot stand in the fiercest struggle. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.
Today, the US leads the world in AI, ahead of China, which is well ahead of the UK in third place, according to rankings from Stanford University.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, caused controversy last week by unleashing hate speech on social media. On Sunday, Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for science, technology and innovation, said what was being “completely” laid down in the UK.
But campaigners such as the Molly Rose Foundation, named after Molly Russell, who killed herself after viewing offensive content online, have called for tougher UK laws to prevent preventable harm.
Under the 50-point AI action plan, the Oxon area near the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s headquarters at Culham will be designated as the first AI growth zone. Regulations for data center plans will be taken up quickly, as the British government seeks storage as a place where AI innovators believe they can build trillion-pound companies. Additional districts will be created in as-named “de-industrialized district areas with access to power.”
Multibillion-pound contracts will be signed to build new public “computing” capacity – the microchips, units, memory and cabling that physically make AI. There will also be a new “supercomputer”, which the government boasts has enough AI power to play half a million chess games per second.
Sounding a note of caution, the Ada Lovelace Institute called the “roadmap to address broader AI harms,” and stressed that piloting AI in the public sector would be “considered a real world rock.”
Gaia Marcus, director of the research institute, said she wanted to know how Whitehall “moves the provision of these systems safely and peacefully” to maintain public trust.
Post Newsletter promotion
The government has confirmed an initiative to collect public data held by the public sector in a new National Data Library to “support AI research and innovation”. He did not specify what data would be available to private companies, but said it was done “responsibly, securely and ethically.”
Kyle commissioned British investor Matt Clifford to create an AI strategy about six months ago. At the time, the government has the possibility to make a 1.5% per year profit for the economy if AI can increase the efficiency of workers.
But there are also fears that unemployment may be widespread, especially in professional occupations with more clerical work and in overseas finance, legal and business management roles.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, along with Kyle, will lead a new AI industry strategy to accelerate investment in energy sources including renewables and small modular nuclear reactors, which are enhanced to fuel energy-hungry AI systems. Worldwide, security campaigns have raised fears around technology of “ that they could generate larger amounts of radioactive waste.
The overall computing capacity boost will generate billions of pounds in revenue over the next five years, the Guardian understands.
More information on the cost is expected to be spent in the 2025 review. Separate investment at £14bn is reported by private companies to build massive data centers in locations such as Loughton in Essex and on the site of a former engine plant in South Wales.
The news comes after it was announced that Rachel Reeves for steep cuts to repair public services with the aid of public funds. The chancellor said colleagues in the cabinet were “in hell” to find areas for savings, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Alan Mak, shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, said: “The UK Labor Party will not support becoming a technology and science superpower. We will deliver analogue government in the digital age.
“Imagining a successful AI future requires investment, but in the six months leading up to this plan, Labor cut £1.3bn in funding for Britain’s first-generation supercomputer and AI research while imposing a national insurance tax, which will risk business in the digital sector £1.66bn .
“AI doesn’t have the potential to transform public services, but it wants to leave Britain’s economic and policy-inspired work behind.”
The challenge of increasing public hardware access to AI UK experts believe that access to cloud computing could become as important for the economy, society and security as access to the internet, electricity or oil and gas.
“Losing access to certain computers could be catastrophic, akin to the impact of losing national broadband or electrical infrastructure today.” report by Demos and UK Day One thinktanks has said. “It’s a matter of economic and national security,” the report said.
More companies are planning to provide greater global cloud computing, increasing the push to build a state-controlled “kingdom” capacity.