Tim Flagg
CEO and Co-Founder, Intelliqence and COO and Co-Founder, EntityXYesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Feryal Clark MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, to hear about the Government’s plans to put AI at the heart of economic growth in the UK. It was also an opportunity to raise some of the concerns that businesses have around the Government’s plans.
Firstly, the Minister and her team were very impressive. They were keen to engage, and they clearly recognise the importance of collaborating with businesses to find and implement the best solutions. They were happy to give credit to the previous Government for building the foundations, but it’s clear their plan is more ambitious and positive. The AI Opportunities Action Plan is now expected to be published in October. From our discussion, it sounds like this will be comprehensive and action oriented.
Key Themes Discussed
Regulation: The concern of the group was that any new AI regulation should not stifle innovation, nor limit growth in a quagmire of red tape and compliance which disproportionately affect SMEs (e.g. GDPR). We highlighted the opportunity for the UK to position itself strategically between the EU and the US, also leveraging London’s dominant financial position, to reinforce the UK as a bridgehead into the EU, EMEA and other markets.
Skills: Training and the provision of skills is essential to ensure that the benefits of AI are more fully ‘diffused’ across society. We talked about the difference between the technical skills required, alongside ensuring everyday people have the confidence to use AI tools to augment their daily tasks. Both are important for businesses, the former to build the software, the latter as consumers for the finished services. We need to make it easier for UK AI businesses to access and retain the best global talent, whilst also leveraging the UK’s unique assets in AI to retain our international competitiveness and open up more markets.
Regional Development: Several members of the group wanted to understand how the Government planned to devolve AI outside of London. Several ideas were shared around partnerships with leading universities, building specialist centres of excellence and creating AI hubs around the new regional data centres.
Government as a Customer: Ideas from the group ranged from using AI to increase speed of healthcare diagnosis, to transforming the planning processes. The Government seemed very receptive to discovering and scaling ideas, and working with innovative AI businesses to discover new solutions. For the Government to be engaging with, and using AI, improves the perception of AI, positioning it as a force for economic and social progress.
The most important thing that the Government can do is to highlight the enormous opportunities and build a more positive perception of AI across the UK. The previous Government brought together world leaders to talk about the threats: whilst important, this has only added to public anxiety around AI. Therefore, it was great to hear the new Government talk around the importance of building public trust in AI.
The forthcoming AI Opportunities Action Plan sounds like it will provide a detailed roadmap, and the Government seems open to ongoing feedback from the AI industry to deliver this roadmap. Businesses have an essential role to play, and that the Government wants to hear ideas, feedback and solutions. This could be the beginning of something great.
Thanks to Ben Howlett at Curia, Dominic Endicott, John Spindler, Blake Bower.
Next Steps
Supporting a new AI business grouping, policy institute Curia will be looking at the most effective ways in which the new Government can deliver on their ambitious AI Opportunities Roadmap. For more information about this programme, please contact team@curiauk.com.
A full report from the meeting will be circulated to Curia’s Industrial Strategy Research Group and Foreign Policy and Defence subscribers.