Government urged to add AI minister to every department
The UK government has been urged to create an AI oversight body with ministerial posts dedicated to advanced technology, with former Tory leader William Hague calling on the “very structures of government” to be re-imagined in the coming years.
A new Policy Exchange report calls on the government to create a new Office for Superintelligence that operates like the fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), by providing expert guidance to public sector bodies and audits government preparedness on technology.
The report says it builds on recommendations made by Matt Clifford, who advises Downing Street on AI technology.
In a foreword to the new report, Hague wrote that AI will usher the “most transformative period in human history” as governments race to implement technology in sectors raning from healthcare to defence.
“Having won the argument that AI must be embraced, we now face the far harder task: reimagining the very structures of government that must oversee and be shaped by this change,” he said.
“The state must evolve as rapidly as the technologies it seeks to govern.”
The policy paper, produced by former Downing Street special adviser Ed de Mincwitz, also received endorsements from former Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, former Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and Labour’s former head of tech policy Kanishka Narayan, who now serves as an MP.
AI to be key to Spending Review
It also demands Prime Minister Starmer to set up a ‘superintelligence council’, which would consist of dedicated AI ministers of state in each government department and a responsibility to produce rolling five-year and ten-year strategy plans.
The 107-page report separately urges senior officials to undertake mandatory training on artificial intelligence and the creation of training programmes for those seeking a career path in advanced technology.
Policy Exchange’s report comes as Keir Starmer met with Nvidia boss Jensen Huang at London Tech Week on Monday.
The US chip maker revealed it has launched a new industry forum which includes the likes of BAE Systems and BT aimed at boosting the UK’s domestic computing capabilities.
Starmer hailed the deal as a “huge vote of confidence” in the UK.
AI will also feature heavily in the government’s Spending Review on Wednesday, with £86bn to go towards science and technology in the coming years.