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Prime Minister sets out how we can make AI work for working people at UCL

14 January 2025

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, sets out the government's plan for artificial intelligence (AI) to boost growth and living standards and revolutionise public services in a major speech at UCL East campus.

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We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer to UCL East to present his government’s plan for the future of artificial intelligence (AI) this week.

Starmer opened without the usual formalities and straight away told a very human story — that of a woman who suffered a life-altering stroke, her future health depending on the quick work of healthcare professionals and new cutting-edge technology.

Throughout the Prime Minister’s speech, delivered in a brand new laboratory at UCL East, there were examples of the everyday challenges facing Britain, from potholes to waiting lists, energy bills to wages. With each, there is the possibility that AI can become a tool for improving lives. And yet, as the Prime Minister set out, this will require a genuine partnership between the government, science, business and the broader community.

In that way, the speech addressed one of the government's central challenges when delivering its ‘Plan for Change’: balancing the everyday challenges facing voters in the here-and-now, with the long-term strategic demands of a nation grappling with extraordinary change. 

Keir Starmer has come to recognise, more than most, the risk posed by Westminster’s short-term nature, with a culture more interested in the horse race than in fixing the foundations. As the Prime Minister has continually stated, he wants to end ‘sticking plaster politics’ and focus instead on a decade of national renewal.

In AI, the Prime Minister believes he has identified a long-term strategic goal for the UK—one in which UCL is leading and where the UK has an advantage in key research areas. As his speech set out, he also believes there is scope for this to be an opportunity to improve people’s lives today.

Yet, there are no silver bullets in policymaking, and the Prime Minister’s speech and the report he launched at UCL did not claim to possess them. What was set out were the building blocks of a long-term strategy to support the development and adoption of AI in both the economy and the state. This strategy recognises the vital nature of the technology while seeking to ground it in the very real challenges facing patients, citizens, businesses, and communities.

If, as UCL researchers have shown across medicine, social care, environmental science and elsewhere, AI can be a force for good, it must, as the Prime Minister emphasised, work alongside changes in how the economy and state operate, ensuring the focus is on improving the lives of ordinary Britons.

On the economy, AI offers the promise of productivity gains. For these benefits to be realised, improvements in regulation and long-term investments will be required.

As the Prime Minister pointed out, the UK and Europe is at risk of being left as importers of American and Chinese technology – the “takers” and not the “makers” of the future, as Starmer put it. Allowing this to continue risks undermining long-term growth and productivity. Developing and sustaining new AI companies requires strong capital markets and a supportive regulatory environment. Underlining the Prime Minister’s plan for cross-cutting government.

For example, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will work alongside the Treasury to enable the kinds of markets that will allow companies like DeepMind to continue to be founded and grow in the UK.

Secondly, the Prime Minister spoke about the possibilities of AI to transform public services. Here again, he referenced the capacity of AI to enable public service workers to spend more time on the personal, humane, aspects of care, not less. This view is supported by the work of colleagues here at UCL, as well as our partners, who have shown that AI cannot (at least not yet) replace the deep, complex work of a social worker or teacher but can, as it already does for many, help with administrative tasks and paperwork.

Developing this work through testing and learning, as Pat McFadden set out at UCL just a few weeks ago, is key. Recognising the need for short- and medium-term improvements through reform and capital investment will also be crucial. People may appreciate AI’s long-term improvements to the NHS, but they will also want access to a GP or an operation today.

Third, energy. The report highlighted the interconnected nature of energy and AI. Here, too, the short- and long-term challenges are evident. In the short term, the UK requires an urgent increase in capacity to meet its net-zero ambitions and ensure the nation’s energy security. In the long term, the demand for energy from AI is immense, with data centres requiring vast amounts of power. Balancing domestic and business needs will require tough choices in investment and planning, which were both touched on in the Prime Minister’s speech.

Finally, geopolitics. As experts of all kinds are suggested, there is a new global order potentially emerging before our eyes, one less structured around liberal institutions. This risks a more zero-sum world where power will be transactional. In this world, decisions regarding AI, data sharing, and technology will become key bargaining chips. Understanding how these chips are played and how the government responds to geopolitical disputes, particularly between the two major AI powers of China and the US, will be crucial.

As the Prime Minister pointedly asked:

“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?”

In this regard, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of safety while remaining bullish about the capacity for innovation. Striking this balance, alongside existing partnerships, will remain key.

Across all these areas, what is underlined is the acceleration of both technology and connectivity, which requires politics and the state to ensure that these developments serve ordinary people.

As Sir Keir Starmer set out, politics and the state must ultimately respond to the public’s demand for improvements in their everyday lives—whether in health, social care, or the economy—while laying the foundation for the nation’s long-term prosperity. It is only when those work in tandem that change is possible.

Politics and the decisions of a Prime Minister takes are always a balancing act between the immediate challenges of today and the strategic opportunities of tomorrow. At UCL, we heard the Prime Minister seek to strike that balance. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to bridge these two competing demands in our research and discussions—ensuring Britain strikes that balance is as important as ever. And for the government, will be crucial in the days, weeks and years ahead.