The U.K. government has released its” AI Opportunities Action Plan” outlining the 50 way the nation can grow its AI industry and become a “world head.” The plan calls for expanding people computing power by 20 percent, creating a coaching data library, and establishing AI hubs in deindustrialized regions.
This new program emphasizes innovation, which is demonstrated by its AI Safety Summit and security pledges, which are a distinct departure from the risk-averse strategy of the past Conservative government. Most recommendations focus on developing AI system, boosting implementation, growing talent, and attracting purchase.
” Our schedule will make Britain the earth leader”, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a press release, emphasising the development of “more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s hands, and transformed people service”.
Plan to increase AI use worldwide to “win the world race”
For the software industry, this shot in the arm has compelling arguments. In August 2024, the number of software companies founded in the U. K. suffered its second “marked drop” since 2022. This parameter is used as a gauge of industry progress, or lack thereof.
The U. K. ranks third in the world for AI preparation according to Stanford University study, falling well behind the U. S. and China. Tech giants like Google have even spoken out about the laws in the United Kingdom that prevent AI designs from being trained on copyrighted materials and called for a “pro-innovation regulation model” to stop the nation from being forgotten.
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On the other hand, data suggests that there is still room for improvement in AI legislation and safety. Nearly half of U.K. SMEs do not use AI systems in any capacity, according to a report from Microsoft, and 72 % of them expressed concerns about their prospective unreliability as a barrier to adoption. In order for businesses to be confident in investing money into AI creation, a study from the University of Cambridge ruled in October 2023 that the UK needs security and transparency laws.
Matt Clifford, a software entrepreneur and newly appointed AI Options Adviser, was given the task of developing the Action Plan in July by the government after discussions with venture capital firms. His 50 suggestions on how to increase AI deployment and promote its implementation will be put into practice in the UK’s plan.
The AI Action Plan, according to the International Monetary Fund, may increase efficiency by 1.5 % annually and boost the economy by £47 billion over the course of ten years. However, Microsoft study found that adding only five years onto the time it takes to move out AI in the U. K. may reduce its economic effects in 2035 by more than £150 billion.
The Artificial business needs a state that is on their side, one that didn’t sit up and letting prospects pass through its hands, the Prime Minister said. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move quickly and act decisively to win the global race.
Clifford’s key recommendations
Clifford’s proposals fall under three broad categories: laying the foundations for AI to flourish, boosting AI adoption in public and private sectors, and keeping the U. K. ahead. Thirty of the recommendations relate to the first category, which includes:
- Establish” AI Growth Zones” in deindustrialized regions: Within these zones, planning requests for data centers will be made more quickly, and AI infrastructure will have easier access to the energy grid, ideally from clean sources like nuclear fusion. This is necessary because there is a shortage of electricity available to the construction of new data centers in the United Kingdom. To this end, three private tech companies have already pledged to contribute £14 billion.
- By 2030, Clifford estimated that this would give the United Kingdom the processing power it requires to fully embrace AI. As of November 2022, the U. K. had only 1.3 % of global computing capacity, while Microsoft ranked the country 11th in the world for cloud infrastructure in May. A new supercomputer will be the first step in this initiative, which will change the way the government plans to spend the$ 1.3 billion to build these resources in August.
- Create a National Data Library: This will involve gathering “five high-impact public datasets” to be made available to private AI researchers, but there is little clarity on how this will be achieved “responsibly, securely, and ethically”, as claimed. Clifford also recommends creating a” copyright-cleared British media asset training data set”, which can be licensed internationally. This is unlikely to be accepted by the creative industries, which recently called for stronger copyright protection to ensure artists retain control when licensing to AI firms.
- Be more creative with text and data mining: Clifford also points out that” the uncertainty surrounding intellectual property is preventing innovation and undermining our broader goals for AI.” He advises changing how text and data mining are conducted. While he makes mention of giving rights holders control over how their content is used, the mandate suggests that this is not a top priority. The government has launched a consultation on this recommendation.
- Require regulators to declare how they support AI innovation: Data regulators are far too risk-averse from Clifford’s perspective. He thinks that they should be taking proactive steps to promote AI growth, such as providing more licenses and resources and filing annual reports. He suggests a new central body with a “higher risk tolerance” to make such decisions if reporting mandates and deadlines do not provide enough pressure.
- In order to foster AI talent in the United Kingdom, the AI Action Plan makes a number of recommendations: assessing the skills gap, supporting higher education institutions to teach relevant skills and boosting AI graduates, expanding the number of AI education pathways, using the immigration system to entice graduates from international universities, and actively promoting diversity. Indeed, only 28 % of Coursera’s Generative AI course enrollments are from women.
SEE: Red Hat: AI Is the Most In-Demand Skill in the UK for 2024.
Details about the three categories of recommendations
Compared to innovation-boosting strategies, there are relatively few nods to AI safety within this first category of recommendations. These include continuing to support the research and building assurance tools used by the AI Safety Institute.
The second section of the AI Opportunities Action Plan suggests how the government can encourage the adoption of AI in both the public and private sectors once the foundations have been laid. According to Clifton, the government should adopt a” Scan- Pilot Scale” approach, which involves creating prototypes of AI solutions for the public sector, as well as scaling them across sectors and regions. Additionally, it recommends creating an AI Knowledge Hub with guidance for both the private and public sectors and addressing adoption barriers for private sector users. Private tech companies are also encouraged to access the digital government infrastructure.
The third category looks at how the government can keep the U. K.” ahead of the pack internationally” when it comes to growing the AI industry. The category contains just one recommendation: creating the Sovereign AI Unit to support private-sector AI research. This will offer companies financial investment, compute, data sets, overseas talent, and access to the national security community” to maximise the U. K.’s chance of growing globally competitive national champions”.
Tech giants applaud U. K.’s AI vision, but fears of cyber attacks and copyright exploitation remain
Tech companies have generally reacted favorably to the Action Plan for AI Opportunities. They cite examples of the cutting-edge technology it might enable, including the locomotive and Colossus computer, which were early examples of British inventions in the past. They also point to the U.K.’s attitude toward AI as the justification for their establishment here.
At Amazon Web Services, VP overseeing the U.K. and Ireland, Alison Kay stated that the advantages of AI are the reason it pledged to invest £8 billion in data centers in the nation.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland, told TechRepublic in an email that the U. K.’s “prime position to fully unlock the opportunities of AI” is why it chose it as the site of its first-ever AI Centre.
Naturally, not all are in agreement. Researchers who have access to the proposed National Data Library will “become prime targets for cyberattacks,” according to Michael Adjei, systems engineering director at Illumio, a provider of security for data centers.
SEE: 87 % of UK Businesses Are Unprepared for Cyberattacks
Cybercriminals will look to exploit the hidden layers of AI, which are frequently proprietary and not sufficiently scrutinized, he told TechRepublic in an email. ” These layers may remain undiscovered longer than other AI layers, leaving third parties exposed to exploitation,” says the statement.
The new plan does not appeal to the creative industries either. The government must also look to support the creative industries, which are still being abused by the unauthorised scraping of their content by generative AI tools, according to Dawn Alford, Executive Director of the Society of Editors.
” The U. K. can achieve public service reform and seize all the growth opportunities associated with AI without facilitating a U. S. tech-led heist of U. K. copyrighted works”, Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, added in a statement.
