By now you’ve probably seen or read Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on the Government of the United Kingdom’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.
We’re excited as many are with the potential that AI can bring. In the Prime Minister’s speech his opening remarks were on the diagnosis of a stroke patient who’s blood clot was identified in three minutes using AI. It’s a fine example of how AI can be used to make excellent, meaningful analysis of data quickly and accurately with the overall effect on improving human life.
As with any technological development though we do feel that it’s only appropriate to consider what issues may arise. For example AI systems can be used to generate false or misleading media, harbour biases against certain population demographics that impact quality of life, and not to mention the increasing power draw that these systems require just for the computational power required.
We welcome a slower and more considered approach to AI whilst balancing against ethical considerations. Whilst we agree that AI has huge potential for society and that the UK should strive to be at the forefront of the technological revolution we are also very much aware that it may bring terrible consequences if not handled with ethics in mind. The AI Safety Institute’s safety tests will undoubtedly be closely monitored in the ongoing effort to ensure the considered development of AI technology.
With the announcement also came commitments to relaxing planning permissions to build new data centres in “AI Growth Zones” and support STEM subjects in the education system. Again, we welcome such moves in support of the UK’s IT industry.
As a company Digital Incite and Matter Ltd will be closely following new announcements and developments with AI. For our consultants it forms a core aspect of CPD activities in view of augmenting skills in a variety of sought after IT capabilities. Whether this be for making your organisation’s data available for analysis or further deployment of IT infrastructure we’re here to help as always so do get in touch to discuss your requirements.
What do you feel about the speech? Please let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.