Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has said that funding for any government AI projects will now be tied to the departments collaborating with the i.AI team in the Cabinet Office.
He flagged up the move in a speech about the potential for the technology in public services, which also included an announcement of a collaboration charter with NHS England.
Speaking at Imperial College, London last week, Dowden said the Government wants the UK to be a world leader in the adoption of AI across the public sector.
“Modern AI has the potential to fundamentally change the way that public services operate in just a few short years,” he said. “Indeed, if we are still working off the same systems and in the same way in another 14 years, or even frankly another two or three, then we will have failed to embrace the opportunity that now lies before us.”
He referred to the recent creation of the Incubator for AI team and emphasised that it will have a central role in driving the adoption of the technology in public services.
“I have agreed with the Treasury that we will make all funding for government AI projects contingent on departments collaborating with i.AI,” he said.
“Never again should we be investing money in IT systems without considering how to make them as efficient and interoperable as possible, or without robustly challenging both the timelines and the costs to deliver better value.
“I want to ensure that where we develop a tool for one department, we are considering where else it could be deployed.”
Growing the team
He also said there is a plan to double the size of the team to 70 people, with the aim of recruiting some of the best talent in the field and support the scaling up of pilot programmes, a number of which are already in progress.
These include work on tools to detect fraud and error in pharmacies and summarise responses to government consultations.
Dowden also highlighted the importance of AI in healthcare, saying that i.AI is to sign a collaboration charter with NHS England.
“This first of a kind initiative will provide a framework for our experts in the incubator to support the NHS to identify and deploy AI solutions that improve services for patients,” he said.
“And I would urge other public sector bodies to consider doing exactly the same thing. I think it can bring enormous benefits.”
He also pointed to a number of uses for the technology in healthcare, including new diagnostic tools, the real time transcription of appointments, and the ability to tailor medicines to individuals based on their genetics.
