GovWire

The defining opportunity of our generation

Deb Kelly is a prison officer and a PE instructor.

Two years ago, this month

She got up on a Saturday morning

And collapsed on the floor.

Her whole face had completely drooped.

Her left side had gone completely weak.

She was having a stroke.

She was found by her son, rushed to hospital

Where the doctors used Artificial Intelligence

To help pinpoint the exact location of the blood clot.

They successfully removed it.

Now, as you know, with strokes it is always a race against the clock.

Too slow and the patient may die.

And every second of delay increases the risk of paralysis.

But in Debs case

With AI

The whole procedure tookless than three minutes.

It saved her life.

I spoke to her this morning.

And shes always been really clear about this.

She said if that blood clot hadnt been removed, she wouldnt be here right now I wouldnt have spoken to her this morning.

Thats the power of AI in action.

And Ive seen a version of this in Coventry in the hospital there.

They showed me how this works with strokes finding the clot.

They have got a big screen with the brain pulsating.

And its really complicated.

Youve got to get the right point straightaway as quickly as you can.

Its revolutionary in terms of stroke care.

And what that shows to me Debs story, what I saw for myself is that AI isnt something sort of, of the future, over the next hill.

Its the present.

Its already here.

In Britain.

Changing lives.

A chance - to turbocharge growth

Create the companies of the future

And radically improve our public services.

I mean weve known for a long time that its pretty impressive.

Never mind Luke Littler becoming world champion at 17

Weve seen computers learn Go from scratch

and be the best in the world in just three days!

Although to be fair to Luke Ive not seen a computer throw a 180 yet!

But look, for all those people and there are lots of people who say

Well thats all very well.

What is Go?

How does that help me?

What does it mean for my life?

That story of Deb shows the point.

Because

AIisntsomething locked away behind the walls of blue-chip companies

Its a force for change that will transform the lives of working people for the better.

If youre sitting around the kitchen table tonight

worried about opportunity at your childrens school

AI can help teachers plan lessons

tailored to your childrens specific needs.

If youre worried about waiting times

And arent we all

AI can save hundreds of thousands of hours lost to missed appointments

Because it can identify those on the list most likely not to turn up

And help get them the support that they need

Maybe change for a more convenient appointment.

It can spot potholes quicker

Speed up planning applications

Reduce job centre form-filling

Help in the fight against tax avoidance

And almost halve the time social workers spend on paperwork.

Incredible.

And yes, there will be teething problems of course there will.

But we cant lose sight of thevastpotential here.

I mean look at DeepMind

Which we are all familiar with.

That has already transformed our entire understanding of biology.

The idea of personalised medicine, tailored to your DNA

The hope of treating diseases that we once feared incurable

The ability to predict and prevent illness long before it strikes.

Think of the lives that will save

Think about the impact on your life

Think about all the doctors and nurses

Who will have more time for the personal touch, the connection, the service

That people really value.

And in a way thats the irony of AI

It will make public services more human

Reconnect staff with the reasons they came to public service in the first place

A force that will turbocharge every single element

Of our Plan for Change

The defining opportunity of our generation.

Now, I do understand that change on this scale and at this speed can be worrying

Particularly when experts warn about safety risks.

And thats why the last government was right to establish the worlds leading AI Safety Institute

And we will build on that.

Indeed, later this month, the UK will lead the first everglobalAI safety test

Working alongside our international partners.

So be in absolutely no doubt

We will make sure this technology is safe.

But I dont think thats the limit of what the state should do

Thats where Idisagreewith the last government.

We shouldnt just focus on safety and leave the rest to the market

Government has a responsibility to make it work for working people

And the opportunities of this technology they arenotjust going to somehow fall into our lap

This is the global race of our lives.

Now, some countries are going to make AI breakthroughs andexportthem

Others will end up buying those breakthroughs and importing them.

The question is which of those will Britain be?

AI maker or AI taker?

And right now you will know this the investors, the entrepreneurs, the researchers who will make those breakthroughs

Theyre looking around the world

They are choosing where to make their home

Trillionsof pounds worth of investment at stake

A battle for the jobs of tomorrow is happening today.

And we want data centres employing hundreds of people in the North-East

Technology hubs using the talents of researchers in the North-West

World-leading robotics in the South-West.

But we have to be on the pitch.

And thats not just a question of economic policy.

Its a question of values too.

Whose values are going to shape this technology as it develops?

The open values that this country holds dear

or other countries?

Who gets the benefits?

Just those at the top or working people everywhere?

And I dont think that a government should be neutral on these questions

And this government wont be.

Britain is going to shape the future.

We are going to make the breakthroughs

We are going to create the wealth

And we are going to make AI work for everyone in our country

This is the nation of Babbage, Lovelace and Turing

That gave birth to the modern computer and the World Wide Web

So mark my words Britain will be one of the great AI superpowers.

Now, thats not boosterism or wishful thinking

This can be done, and it will be done.

Theres a reason why OpenAI, Anthropic and Scale

chose London as their international office.

And theres a reason Mistral AI

one of the champions of open source

have just announced a UK office too.

Weve got Wayve building the tech to power a new generation of self-driving vehicles

Synthesia leading the world in AI-powered video

Blackstone building Europes largest data centre in Northumberland.

Were Number one in Europe for AI investment.

Weve already attracted more than 25 billion

And thats just in the time that this government has been in office.

Thats what you get with a Government that can be a trusted partner

With a clear strategy.

Its what you get with a reforming Government

actually capable of driving through the supply-side agenda this needs.

Because as you know

As this race speeds up

Weve got to run further and faster.

So within days of taking office

I asked Matt Clifford to review how we seize the opportunities of AI.

And I want to thank Matt, and Peter Kyle and his team for all their work.

Because today, we are not just publishing that review

We are making a clear commitment to take forward all the recommendations.

And we will put the full weight of the British state behind this

I am determined the UK becomes the best place to start and scale an AI business

That will be the centrepiece of our Industrial Strategy.

There has never been a better moment

for entrepreneurs with big ideas

to grow a small company fast.

So we are going to create AI growth zones

Breathing new life into sites like Culham, in Oxfordshire.

And we are going to remove the blockages that hold you back

This is a Government that backs the builders.

So if you are looking at where to build your data centres

We will speed up planning permission.

If you need better access to power and we all know how big a challenge that is

Well get you those grid connections at speed.

You have asked for a gold standard data access regime

So we will develop a National Data Library

A clear and trusted copyright regime

And, safe access to the unique resour

View the original news story