Is it all ‘jam tomorrow’ as Brits are forced to tighten their belts amid talk of further cuts to public services by the Chancellor*
The UK government has outlined its strategy to deploy AI in the public and private sectors to drive economic growth. It includes £14 billion commitments from some of the UK’s leading firms to integrate the technology.
The British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, unveiled the strategy, the AI Opportunities Action Plan, on 13 January. He said it is expected to generate 13,250 new jobs in the UK.
The plan has been worked on by Matt Clifford, the government’s AI advisor who is also a venture capitalist, since last year. It lists 50 recommendations, such as establishing growth zones to boost the development of infrastructure and speed up investment. The first zone will be launched in Culham, Oxfordshire, with more to follow. Culham campus, Culham Innovation Centre and Culham Conference Centre are close to the village of Culham (pictured).
Techcos Vantage Data Centres, Nscale (which describes itself as ‘the hyperscaler engineered for AI’) and Kyndryl (‘We design, build, manage and modernize the mission-critical technology systems’) have pledged £14 billion to develop AI infrastructure required in the UK, in addition to a £25 billion AI investment that the UK government committed last year at the International Investment Summit.
It is hoped that integrating AI into public services will improve efficiency and diminish the amount of time and money consumed by administration in sectors from education to healthcare and development.
The government says it will invest in a new supercomputer to increase the UK’s compute capacity by a factor of 20 by 2030 and create a national data library to keep public data accessible and secure. Another plank of the strategy is setting up the framework for sovereign AI.
The government said that adopting AI through the initiative could increase productivity by up to 1.5% a year. Over a decade, this could clock up an average of £47 billion a year for the UK.
The Prime Minister is not lacking ambition: he claims the plan will “transform the lives of working people”, “make Britain the world leader” in AI and promote “more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transform public services”.
Lee Myall, CEO of Neos Networks, a critical network infrastructure provider, commented, “The UK’s commitment to AI, including plans to increase its compute capacity twentyfold and the introduction of a new supercomputer, is a transformative step forward. The effectiveness of this increased computing power relies heavily on the networks that transport data between data centres, businesses, and end users, which will require a comparable level of investment.
“With more data centres likely to be built outside major cities due to cost and energy considerations, key terrestrial routes linking the north and south of the UK will need upgrades to deliver high-capacity optical and dark fibre capacity. By investing in a robust national network, we can unlock the full potential of AI and ensure that businesses and communities across the UK reap the benefits.”