When the opportunity to speak at this conference was put to me, I jumped at it. Because I believe, with absolute conviction that AI has brought humanity to a new technological frontier: One with the power to transform how we live, how we work, how we govern.
We stand at the edge of something vast. Something that will shape the destiny of nations, the British people and the daily lives of every citizen on this planet.
As Foreign Secretary, technology was at the heart of my approach. I announced plans in January for an upgraded data science team to inform diplomatic work and liberate diplomats from their desks so they could spend more time immersed in their posts and announced a counter-hybrid taskforce so that diplomats could be ready for a new age of technologically driven subterfuge.
In a speech in Singapore in July, I called AI a paradigm shift in power. One that will reshape geopolitics, recast economies and determine who projects influence in the world.
We know our adversaries will use any edge to undermine open societies, to entrench repression and spread disinformation.
Organised crime is also utilising AI to turbocharge their scams and get rich quick at the expense of victims large and small.
Whether it is rogue states or rogue traders, the goal is simple: To hoard power and wealth in the hands of a limited few.
Now as Deputy Prime Minister with a cross-government view, I am even more convinced that governments and corporations who seize AI faster, and more robustly, will surge ahead and those that hesitate will quickly fall behind.
I am also convinced that, if used well, AI can help to rebuild trust in the state and in our politics.
Delivering what people really want: Shorter waits, fewer errors, lower costs and better outcomes.
But if we want to achieve all that and ensure Britain continues to lead in the world, we must make AI operational.
We are already moving – fast. I am proud that we have one of the most ambitious AI agendas in the world.
Just look at the Prime Minister’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, a bold blueprint for making the UK the global leader in AI, or the landmark, multi-billion-pound Tech Prosperity Deal signed with the United States last month, and the rollout of AI Growth Zones, serving as hotbeds of AI development and creating jobs across the country.
Tech pioneers agree that we’re leading the world on this: Jensen Huang, the co-founder of Nvidia, said recently that ‘the UK is on its way to becoming an AI superpower.’
But to operationalise AI for the greater good we must begin with a clear diagnosis about what is going wrong with our public services.
The reality is this: Parts of our bureaucracy have become bloated. They have become too expensive and they have become too unproductive to the point that, too often, they fail to meet the needs of the people they are meant to serve.
Let’s be frank, public-sector productivity is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. That’s not good enough for the people of our country.
But AI can be transformational, and I don’t say that simply with hopeful optimism, I say it because of what AI is already achieving in the public sector both on the system-wide level and at the very frontline of service delivery.
Let me start with AI Consult, a tool which analyses responses to public consultations in a fraction of the time it would take civil servants, meaning policymakers can identify key issues across the system and act sooner.
Then there’s DERM, an AI-based device for analysing skin lesions: It is used to triage patients where cancer is suspected, potentially freeing up capacity and reducing waiting times at hospitals up and down the country.
There are hundreds of green shoots like these sprouting across government, but if we’re going to bring about a public services revolution in this country we need an AI ecosystem to take root throughout the state and breathe new life into our over-stretched bureaucracy.
As Deputy Prime Minister, I am determined to deliver that shift. At the same time, I recognise that the pace of change is unsettling.
AI has so recently become a fact of science, it is difficult to ignore the dystopian warnings of science fiction: That when we give up too many of our tasks to machines, we risk losing our humanity.
People are rightly scared of a future in which AI takes the intellectual lead, where computers write poetry while humans do drudgery.
I believe just the opposite: That AI can enable us to be more human, not less.
Let me explain what I mean with an example from my own Department, which is taking the lead at putting AI in the service of the public.
The Probation Service is currently trialling something called Justice Transcribe, one of the AI Exemplars sponsored by the Prime Minister, built by the Government’s very own leading AI engineers.
It records and transcribes probation officers’ conversations with offenders automatically, cutting hours of work to transfer handwritten meeting notes into digital systems.
That means probation staff can spend more of their time doing the things only humans can do: Working with offenders to protect the British public, person-to-person, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.
In fact, eighty percent of officers surveyed said it improved engagement with offenders, making it easier for them to read important changes in body language and tailor their approach.
This kind of technology frees probation officers to do the things they signed up for: Changing lives, cutting crime, protecting the public.
We’re really privileged to have Anna and Charmain here with us today, two probation officers already using AI.
When we asked Anna and Charmain how AI is transforming their day-to-day work, they were really clear that it means they can be more present with offenders. Thank you both for your service to our country, let’s show them our appreciation.
I think their testimony demonstrates the power of AI: Handling the routine tasks at lightning speed, so that people can take their time over what really matters.
Today, I am thrilled to announce an expansion of Justice Transcribe: The Ministry of Justice will equip a thousand more probation officers with this technology so that they can be more human, not less.
We estimate that using AI in my department can save around 240,000 days of admin every year, the equivalent of freeing up around one thousand members of staff in our frontline workforce.
That’s time we can reinvest in rehabilitating offenders and in keeping the British people safe.
It is an astonishing impact and we must have a similar ambition for AI throughout our public services.
If we get this right, if we embed AI across government, across every system, across every service, I believe we can rejuvenate 150 years of the British state in the next 15 years, possibly even sooner than that.
But where there are opportunities, there are also risks. We know that data is the beating heart of AI and, as a responsible Government, we must ask the right questions about how British data is being used. Where is it going? Who has sovereign control over it? What will they use it for?
I’m proud to say that, driven by its broad partnership with the UK Government and with the Ministry of Justice specifically, OpenAI is expanding its UK data offer by introducing data residency, giving British customers and developers the option to store their data on servers right here in the UK.
That means under British laws, with British protections, and subject to British oversight.
And not only will it give greater confidence to the increasing numbers of people in the UK using OpenAI’s software, but for those who have so far hesitated this could convince them that their data is secure and they are safe to take the AI leap.
It will strengthen our digital resilience and turbocharge our economy.
It is yet another milestone in our Plan for Change.
So, the UK Government will do what it takes to unleash the extraordinary promise of AI.
I see that promise in this room, across the UK and throughout the world. People investing in the future: Scientists, executives, and politicians, all working together in the pursuit of innovations that can transform the way we deliver services.
Collectively, we are also alive to the perils: That AI could be weaponised against open societies to create chaos from which a nefarious few will benefit.
Leaders in the public and private spheres alike must react.
And if we do, we can instead set AI on an epoch-defining course to ensure new technology leads to global progress.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman once said:
“AI will be the most powerful technology ever created by humanity, and it has the potential to improve every aspect of our lives.”
I couldn’t agree more. It can transform our societies, making us more human, not less.
But we must operationalise it, safely and securely and do so as quickly as possible. I am convinced that the partnerships we are building today can ensure AI secures a better tomorrow.
You can expect the UK Government’s full support as we each play our role in that endeavour. Thank you for listening.
