British state must adapt to AI or be plunged into the dark ages

WHETHER you like it or loathe it, we can’t ignore AI. The genie is out of the bottle and it’s here to stay. Like the steam engine or the creation of the internet, it’s the next technological revolution. He argued that Whitehall should harness the power of AI Credit: Alamy Reform UK Treasury Spokesman Robert Jenrick Credit: PA We can either get ahead in the global race, or be left in the dark ages. The question is how to make sure it works for the British people. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! In Sweden, using AI in breast-cancer screening halved radiologists’ workloads while detecting 29 per cent more cancer cases. The American Treasury has used AI to prevent £3 billion in payment fraud. Yet the British government is falling behind. Only one-third of NHS staff have access to a basic AI platform that would cut down their admin time. Just 1 in 5 local government employees use AI at all. It’s no surprise then that the public sector is still less productive than it was before Covid. This week it emerged civil servants took half a year just to post a simple job advertisement for a dementia advisor. The government is taxing you more than ever and taking the micky. Most read in The Sun Reform will cut the civil service headcount back to pre-Brexit levels to save £7 billion, and use smart AI tech to get more out of public servants. For instance, we’ll use AI software to wage war on benefit cheats and save the taxpayer billions. In the last 6 years the amount of fraud and error has doubled to £10 billion a year. And we will unashamedly deploy AI to cut the admin work of doctors and nurses so they spend more time on the wards treating patients. Unlike Labour, we won’t let pathetic virtue-signalling against cutting-edge companies like Palantir get in the way of making people’s lives better. These efficiency savings will help allow me to raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 in my first Budget. But we aren’t naïve about the risks posed by AI either. Our AI Safety Institute is well-respected and we will make sure other countries give it the access they need to stop dangerous over-development. Tech bosses can’t just create monsters and throw their hands in the air while coining billions. They need to ensure this is safe. And we need to hold their feet to the fire. We will bring back well-paid manufacturing jobs through cheap energy, to ensure we create well-paid jobs as others are replaced. And we will make sure data centres can be built in Britain, so we’re not dangerously dependent on foreign powers. Britain has always benefited from leading the world in innovation, and with smart choices now we can do so again. Comment now