The UK’s AI situation: What to anticipate in 2023 and beyond.

It is worthwhile to consider the adoption of AI thus far and what the coming year holds as we approach 2023. The UK is often regarded as a global leader in artificial intelligence, possessing a state-of-the-art research and innovation sector. Even Nevertheless, AI is still in its infancy, with certain industries, markets, and companies having more developed applications than others.

The majority of industries, including manufacturing, have not yet fully embraced AI. According to a recent Capital Economics survey of UK businesses, the adoption of AI was only 17% in manufacturing and 12% in retail and hospitality. This contrasts with about 30% in the legal and banking industries. Nonetheless, AI is developing at an exponential rate. In 2030, the world GDP is predicted to increase by up to 14% due to the rapid advancement and utilisation of artificial intelligence.

What steps is the UK taking to encourage the rise of AI?

AI is still a top priority on the government’s agenda to spur innovation despite the present economic situation. This was highlighted in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2022 and the Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech, where he emphasized the need for a “innovative economy.” In addition, the government unveiled its historic National AI Strategy in September 2021, outlining a 10-year strategy to establish the UK as a “global AI superpower” with a focus on three main pillars:

1.Making investments and preparing for the AI ecosystem’s long-term requirements to maintain the UK’s standing as a global AI leader.

2.Encouraging the spread of AI throughout the economy to guarantee that it benefits all areas, countries, companies, and industries.

3.Creating a public-protective regulatory and governance structure that encourages innovation.

The National AI Strategy and the UK’s status as an AI pioneer will be furthered with the introduction of the AI Action Plan in July 2022, which details the actions being taken by each government department. The plan was first published nine months afterward.

Overall, the Action Plan has demonstrated that many of the Strategy’s recommended actions have advanced. Nevertheless, we urge the government to keep up its end of the bargain by keeping its promises, especially with regard to boosting departmental collaboration, enhancing personnel qualifications, and creating an innovative, efficient framework for AI regulation.

Expanding cooperative intergovernmental AI projects.

Several projects, ranging from finance to research, were developed by government ministries in 2022. A few government agencies, like the Ministry of Defense, HMRC, and the Department of Health and Social Care, have also created their own AI policies.

The long-term goal of the National AI Strategy is to coordinate efforts across government agencies to pinpoint areas in which applying AI can help solve strategic problems more quickly. This is evident from the AI Action Plan’s stated goal of creating a “all-of-government approach to international AI activity,” which will be covered in a future International Technology Strategy.

However, it seems that most of the projects included in the AI Action Plan were created independently of other government agencies. AI is widely used in many different industries and policy areas; further cross-government collaboration could result in higher advantages through departmental synergies.

All throughout government, however, is exemplified by the recent creation of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard Hub. The Hub is a cross-government project that aligns with the National AI Strategy and National Data Strategy’s promises to increase openness in the public sector’s use of algorithms.

Building competencies in the field of artificial intelligence.

Specialized skills have been cited by techUK members as a major barrier to the deployment of AI. It was also revealed by our most recent Digital Economy Monitor poll that the UK labor market is extremely competitive. Regretfully, there is a global shortage of AI data scientists, and as 2023 approaches, there are no signs that this situation will improve.

However, the government has worked hard to support AI skills, as seen by the Department of Education’s Skills Bootcamps, the Alan Turing Institute’s Turing AI Fellowships, and postgraduate conversion courses. It would also be beneficial going forward for the government to give a report on how these programs are performing and what the results are. Although the AI Action Plan made no note of these efforts’ progress, the original Strategy also called for disseminating research on the skills needed for AI and supported the National Centre for Computing Education in offering accessible AI programs.

In addition, increased industry-government cooperation would be a positive step toward quickening the upskilling of AI professionals and closing the skills gap. For instance, the government is attempting to get business to finance postgraduate conversion courses, especially for members of underrepresented groups. Nevertheless, this has not yet acquired much traction. Paul Scully, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Technology and the Digital Economy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, will be speaking at an AI Skills Ministerial Roundtable that techUK will be having soon. This roundtable will facilitate the conversation about areas in which industry and government cooperation might be beneficial in narrowing the skills gap in artificial intelligence.

Ensuring that the regulatory environment surrounding AI fosters innovation.

Regulatory ambiguity is yet another significant obstacle that the UK must overcome to increase the deployment of AI. Many advancements were achieved in the development of governance for the usage of AI last year. Important examples of this include the opening of the new AI Standards Hub and the ongoing development of the AI Assurance roadmap and Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. A recent paper titled “Barriers and Enablers to AI Assurance” was a result of a symposium on AI assurance that techUK and the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) co-hosted.Additionally, we are collaborating with the CDEI to offer industrial use cases that illustrate the various industries’ use of assurance approaches. This will contribute to an online archive of case studies as part of the roadmap’s broader objectives.

The government wants to regulate AI in a flexible and iterative manner. The white paper from the Office for Artificial Intelligence, which was supposed to be released last year, is still pending. This will outline the UK’s current stance on the potential dangers and negative effects of AI and provide pertinent legislative remedies. The administration published an interim policy paper outlining its evolving pro-innovation and risk-based regulatory strategy prior to the release of the white paper. As per our position paper on “Governance for an AI future,” techUK endorses this proposal and advocates for a multi-tiered risk management strategy that takes into account the complete AI lifecycle and current regulations.

Thus, as 2023 approaches, we anticipate collaborating closely with the government to support the implementation of a pro-innovation, reasonable approach to AI regulation and to address other prevalent obstacles to AI adoption, like the lack of digital skills.