UK changes its narrative on AI – but it won’t happen overnightpublished at 10:45 Greenwich Mean Time
Zoe Kleinman
Technology editor, BBC News
“Finally!” is one WhatsApp I received from a contact in the
UK AI sector in response to the government’s new plan.
“They’ve listened!” was another.
The government is throwing significant firepower behind a
sector which today is feeling pretty jubilant. The words growth, innovation and
opportunity feature strongly in the new plan – replacing the previous narrative
of caution, safety and existential threats.
They haven’t gone away, of course. But rather than concede
that we can’t compete in the AI arms race alongside the usual suspects – notably the US and China – the UK has decided to funnel money and resources at
creating an infrastructure that at least enables us to try.
In the last 14 months I’ve lost count of the number of AI
pledges, commitments, declarations, draft bills and various other documents
that have come my way.
What’s different about this plan is that it’s decisive,
it is full of practical detail and it is coming from the very top of
government.
But it’s difficult to put a timeframe on it – building data
centres and increasing the nation’s computing power twentyfold, can’t happen
overnight.
We will probably not see the fruits of it before the next general
election – when the government will have to convince voters that it was still
the right decision, at a time when public finances remain stretched.
