Keir Starmer has greenlit a plan to use the immigration system to recruit a new wave of artificial intelligence (AI) experts and loosen up data mining regulations to help Britain lead the world in the new technology.
The recruitment of thousands of new AI experts by the government and private sector is part of a 50-point plan to transform Britain with the new technology.
It also involves students being pushed on to AI-focused courses to produce thousands of new graduates as ministers plot to build up capacity in the new technology.
The Independent has seen the AI action plan for the UK due to be unveiled next week in which Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the UK will be controlled by foreign powers unless it adopts the new technology across all sectors.
The plan includes the government setting up its own public sector AI compute capacity as well as working with the private sector to maximise its benefits.
The UK will see huge new data centres built around the country as well, as Britain joins the worldwide arms race to benefit from AI.
The plan has been described as “underwhelming” by some experts who have already seen it.
However, it highlights how the technology can help deliver public services by slashing 20 per cent off the working hours of many employees including teachers in terms of doing paperwork, reports, lesson planning and marking.
In his foreword, Sir Keir said that AI will be at the forefront of his government’s top mission to deliver economic growth.
He said: “Advances in AI will define the decade to come. This will bring extraordinary opportunities. But those opportunities will only be available to the countries and companies who can work out how to make AI work for them.
“Our choice, then, is not whether the AI revolution happens. That is out of our hands. We must decide whether we want to get ahead and shape that revolution, or sit back passively and wait for it to shape us.
“I believe that we must fully embrace our role as insurgents in this revolution if our economy is to grow and our people are to prosper. To do anything less – to repeat the mistakes made since the [2008] financial crisis, and ignore the change that is happening around us – would be a dereliction of duty.”
While he acknowledged that safeguards would need to be put in place for public confidence in AI to be achieved, he added: “Shaping a successful AI future for Britain requires us to act and invest now. Failure to do so will condemn us to merely obeying decisions made by others beyond our borders. As they have done so often in the last decade, British people will lose out. I want Britain to be a leader in this technological revolution, not a follower.”
The new strategy is based on four pillars – creating UK government AI compute capacity, encouraging AI entrepreneurship, providing global leadership on AI safety, and g frontier AI companies in London, including Google DeepMind’s headquarters, significant OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Meta AI offices, as well as emerging local winners – such as Wayve, the autonomous vehicle company.
The document says that in the next six months, the UK will publish an AI investment plan.
It plans to increase AI compute capacity by 20 times the current rate by 2030. There will be AI growth zones while the government may adopt technology used by Amazon to make operations more efficient.
But in an admission that there is still a lack of expertise in Whitehall and the country as a whole, the plan also includes a recruitment strategy to bring in fresh blood to lead the government’s push for what is being described as the latest industrial revolution.
The strategy includes pay levels available of at least 75 per cent of the private sector average.
The plan would also involve the government “establishing an internal headhunting capability on a par with top AI firms to bring a small number of elite individuals to the UK.”
But the government also wants to push for more women in AI and more graduates in the technology overall.
It noted: “In 2022, 46,000 students graduated from an AI-relevant higher education programme in the UK. While this is the highest in Europe, with Germany (32,000) second, the UK is behind Finland and others on a per capita basis and there remains unmet demand for skilled workers.”
It added: “Only 22 per cent of people working in AI and data science are women.8 Achieving parity would mean thousands of additional workers. The AI conversion courses have helped to diversify the AI pipeline, but only at the top end.”
Among the other points is a plan to loosen up regulations on data mining of personal and other information to make the UK more competitive.
The document notes the need to “reform the UK text and data mining regime so that it is at least as competitive as the EU.”
In response to the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, Adam Leon Smith, a fellow of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and international AI expert said: “The AI Opportunities Action Plan is a statement of belief in the UK’s tech sector. We will need, at least, tens of thousands more people to become skilled AI professionals to transform the nation in the way this report envisages. We’ll achieve this by investing not just in university students, but by re-training the over 50s, and winning over more of the half a million women who are missing from the tech industry.
“Just as importantly, the report recognises that AI safety, proportionate regulation and professional oversight can set the UK apart as a world-leader, rather than hinder our innovators.
“Investing heavily in public sector AI is a very important step, and this must be matched with mechanisms to ensure accountability, measurement of progress, and public trust.”
Gaia Marcus, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute, said: “The government should therefore be cautious of formally requiring watchdogs to implement growth goals. Regulators’ primary role should be to protect the public, and they could become discredited if they are not seen to be doing so.
“The public also have nuanced and often strong views on the use of their data, particularly in areas such as health. In light of past backlash against medical data sharing, the Government must continue to think carefully about the circumstances under which this kind of sharing will be acceptable to the public. Greater public engagement and deliberation will help in understanding their views.”
Alexander Iosad, Director of Government Innovation at the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), said: “As the prime minister has made clear, AI is no longer an if, or even a when; it is here, and it is urgent. The opportunities for Britain’s economy and our public services are too great for us to ignore. This has to be the Government’s priority.
“Public sector workers are overwhelmed and overworked, with many choosing to leave rather than try to make a broken system work. The result is a doom loop of growing backlogs, worsening outcomes and rising failure demand. The real impact of this is felt not just by those workers, but by the British public who can’t get doctors’ appointments, the benefits they are entitled to, and the high-quality education they and their children deserve.”
