Image source: UK Parliament, CC BY 3.0
HM Treasury has highlighted the potential for AI to improve productivity in the public sector, with its chief secretary having met with experts in the technology.
John Glen has hosted a roundtable of academic and business leaders on the issue, discussing how AI can be used to save taxpayers’ money while ensuring it can be implemented safely and responsibly.
This included views on how it can be used to improve customer experiences and how the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has used AI to save 25,000 working hours among staff.
The announcement said that the UK has attracted £18 billion of private investment in AI since 2016 and was third in the 2022 Government AI Readiness Index, but was 10th in the public sector category.
Escaping unsustainable cycle
Glen said: “If we don’t make our public services more productive, we will be trapped in an unsustainable cycle of spending increases.
“Through the use of safe AI, we can unchain our nurses, teachers, police officers and civil servants from time consuming admin - freeing them up to help the taxpayer.”
He also took part in Google Cloud’s Google Next London event, delivering a speech on digital transformation and AI.
