Britain doesn’t need to walk a US or EU path on AI

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Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The author is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Artificial intelligence is the defining opportunity of our generation. This is not a technology that is coming. It’s already here, materially life changing. It is preventing sickness in our NHS. It’s creating exciting new companies in our economy. It is pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery in our universities. And it is turbocharging this government’s plan to transform the country.

Take waiting times on the NHS. We will use AI to quickly reschedule and fill appointments that patients can no longer make. Or take your children to school. We will expand opportunities for teachers to use AI to personalize lessons specifically for your child’s needs. The possibilities are endless. AI can support small businesses by keeping their records. It can identify potholes more quickly. This could help speed up planning applications to get Britain building again. On and on it goes. In the years ahead, no aspect of our society will remain untouched.

Britain should be excited about that. For one, it offers credible hope of a long-desired increase in public sector productivity. For millions of frontline workers – nurses, social workers, teachers, police officers – AI can save valuable time. This means they can refocus on the caring and connection aspects of their work that often get buried under bureaucracy. This is the wonderful irony of AI in the public sector. This provides an opportunity to make services feel more human

Similarly, as the third largest AI market in the world, Britain is well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities. Numerous blue-chip AI companies already call Britain home Our universities are full of scientific talent. We have a thriving tech ecosystem with some of the best entrepreneurs on the planet. our A.I The security infrastructure is truly world leading. And our values ​​of democracy, open trade and the rule of law stand up to this test. Our values ​​are absolutely critical to the free exchange of ideas needed to truly maximize the potential of AI.

Still, we cannot sit complacently and wait for the competition to catch up. The global race for AI leadership is getting faster and faster. Some countries are going to make AI breakthroughs and export them to the world. Others will be left to buy those successes and import them. I don’t believe the government should be passive or neutral on this issue – it’s the bread and butter of the industry Policy. AI is the biggest force for change in the world right now. I am determined to use this to usher in a golden age of public service reform. And I am determined that the UK will become the best place to start and scale an AI business. I know growth in this area cannot be state led. But it is entirely the government’s job to ensure proper conditions.

That’s why, within days of our election, I commissioned venture capitalist Matt Clifford to develop a plan to harness the limitless potential of AI. Today, we launch that plan and deliver results.

We will create new AI growth zones and breathe new life into former industrial sites across the country. We will increase public sector compute – the AI ​​power engine – by a factor of at least 20. We will establish a gold standard data access system, a national data library, a clean and trusted copyright system and a new commitment to unlocking. Innovation potential of NHS data. And we’ll bulldoze through the ridiculous blockages in our planning system that prevent billions from being invested in the data centers and grid connectors that AI depends on.

Make no mistake — these reforms are already beginning to bear fruit. On Monday alone, Vantage Data Centers confirmed it will invest more than £12bn in new data centers across the country, including building one of Europe’s largest data centers in Wales. It will create 11,500 jobs in AI and construction. And it’s a sign of things to come.

Because Britain shouldn’t just be excited about AI – it should be confident. We don’t have to follow the path of the US or the EU on AI regulation — we can go our own way, taking a uniquely British approach that examines AI long before we regulate it, so that what we do is proportionate and based on science and beyond. , a proposition for investors of the good sense they would expect from the stability, pragmatism and democratic British values.

Simply put, our message to anyone working on the AI ​​frontier: look at Britain. Our ambition is to be the best state partner for you anywhere in the world. We see the future, we run towards it and we support our creators. Because we know that AI has come as the ultimate force for change and national renewal.