( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

>the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.

This sounds like desperation more than anything else. I think a rush to use AI in public services without thorough planning and a critical mindset will inevitability lead to another Post Office or Robodebt scandal [2].

[1] https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Post-Office-Horizon-s... [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66130105

They’re gonna create a competitor to OpenAI using the British Civil Service and government spending. Yeah, ok. Best of luck to them.

I like AI for specific tasks its suited to and the tech involved. But i'm skeptical it can create widespread massive productivity improvements. I think its bit oversold on that.

We seem to lack people to fix pot holes, not report them. We need carers to support old people. AI seems to be mostly good at writing meeting minutes, reports and generating slightly incorrect content/code.

Happy to be proven wrong though.

> Sovereign AI compute, owned and/or allocated by the public sector, will enable the UK to quickly and independently allocate compute to national priorities. [...] Sovereign AI compute will almost certainly be the smallest component of the UK’s overall compute portfolio.

> NB: this review has not considered the requirements of non-AI high-performance computing, for which there is already a well-established case, including the need to deliver an exascale capability. Government should seek to resolve this as soon as possible, noting that these systems will play a crucial role in supporting AI science and research.

What an interesting addendum to add to that. The government, or at least who ever is writing this report, seems to imagine "AI" as a uniform and distinct process, where you turn on the AI machine, electricity goes in and AI comes out. "Can't use a non-AI machine. It doesn't make AI." The government should already be investing in computational resources for a huge number of government projects and services. The N.B. makes a good point.

The fact someone needed to add this note, and it made it into the final public document, written in that tone, seems like this isn't really a plan, more so just a vibes-based promise for innovation from 1 team in the government.

I hoped as I read that sentence that "learning" could involve learning what not to do as well as learning what to do.