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( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

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31–40 of 60 posts

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#31
> AI is already being used across the UK. It is being used in hospitals up and down the country to deliver better, faster, and smarter care: spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged quicker. This is already helping deliver the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

I find this really hard to believe. My brother, who is a practising ward doctor by trade with almost zero software experience, recently did a sabbatical related to cleaning patient notes data for use in training. He said it was a hopeless mess and they had absolutely nothing. The work he did went nowhere. I appreciate the hospital trusts are different and isolated in some respects, but the idea they're doing anything with AI is a joke when they can't even do the basics (as anyone who's used NHS digital services will testify to).

Does anyone have any experience that actually agrees with this press release?

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#32
The tone of this sounds like it was written by non-bureaucrats trying to score political points. I get that it's a press release, but it sounds like a stump speech.

"Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation – revolutionising our public services and putting more money in people’s back pockets."

Is a heroin analogy really what they are going for, and then straight into some imaginary cost savings?

I know it is fashionable to wonder if something was written by AI. I don't think this is, but some human went to great lengths to sound borderline unhinged.

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#33
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely insane. If they want to know where potholes are, throw up a basic site with a map for reporting, people are very motivated by issues on the roads. Or just ask Google to share Waze data - many potholes on major roads are tagged there. "Feeding AI through cameras" makes so little sense it's laughable, in the most depressing way. As you've pointed out, I might let it slide if issues were actually bein…

Such a site already exists: fixmystreet.com. Most councils already use it (or an instanced version of it), and every time I've found an issue in public, it has already been reported on there. Often multiple times. The issue is, as you say, the council doesn't have the budget to actually fix the reported problems.

The catch is that if your car is damaged by a pothole you have a chance to claim damages from the council only if you can prove that the council knew about the pothole. So even if most reports do not result in an action, they still have some values and are an incentive for the council to fix the road.

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#34
The press conference earlier today implied the government was spending on AI, but this suggests the opposite: they've secured private investment to the tune of £14bn and thousands of UK jobs.

I can't see any mention of direct costs to the UK taxpayer, except for needing to include AI in the NHS and civil services in various vague ways.

There are no details on what laws or regulations they plan to change in exchange for that investment, though guessing from the public questionnaire a few weeks ago, they will likely relax copyright on private artworks so it can be used with AI generation by default. Tax breaks are a given but it’s not clear how much or if it applies to anyone working in the sector.

This all means nothing if the AI bubble pops, forcing those companies to collapse, laying off thousands and wasting everyone's time (and rights).

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#39

> feed AI through cameras to spot potholes and help improve roads. This example only makes sense if we're in a position where all the potholes we know about are fixed, and all of the pothole fixing masterworkers are sitting idle, waiting to leap into action at the next report. But the reality is there are many, many potholes that are known about, but we can't/won't fix them due to things like budgets and staffing con…

Indeed.

The problem doesn't lie in detection - the problem lies in poor road maintenance - which is presumably driven by various effects of cost cutting - including outsourcing to the lowest cost providers who have an interest in repeat business rather than a job well done.

Re: ( UK ) Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

#40

The tone of this sounds like it was written by non-bureaucrats trying to score political points. I get that it's a press release, but it sounds like a stump speech. "Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation – revolutionising our public services and putting more money in people’s back pockets." Is a heroin analogy really what they are going for, and then straight into some imaginary cost sa…

I'm starting to notice that the main way for me to pick up on AI written content is the tone! No LLM will give you a heroin analogy unprompted. The AI written version of this press release is a dry desert of weak adjectives, but a bureaucrat that's been asked to "add a little more... you know, zhuzh it up" will absolutely transport the reader into a lush Afghani poppyfield.
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