I’ll make AI technology work hard for ordinary Brits

Advances in technology can be a tool or a threat — and must be used to help working people — writes Labour leader Keir Starmer

The 1980s Conservative governments stood back while millions lost jobs, rather than supporting workers through change, says Labour leader (PA)

All big advances in human history come with an exciting set of possibilities as well as real threats to our way of life.

The recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are no different. AI can be both a tool and a threat, and one that can be steered in the direction of prosperity, security and safety.

Britain is well-placed to play a strategic role in how this happens. We are third in many global rankings on AI, currently behind only the US and China. We host one of the world’s leading AI labs – Google DeepMind, based in my constituency – which is one of the UK’s biggest R&D organisations. London is home to 1,300 AI companies – more than New York and double the combined number of Paris and Berlin. We have a strong talent market, with world-class universities and we are attracting some of the world’s best AI talent.

So, if we can build on our strengths, there is a genuine role for the UK to play both in providing international leadership on how AI is developed and applied.

To do this, we need to learn the lessons from history.

How we dealt with nuclear technology is instructive. Nuclear can clearly be used to make bombs or to generate electricity. AI can be used to save lives, or to undermine our livelihoods and entrench inequalities. It is our choice. And just as with nuclear technologies, it is right that we partner and collaborate internationally to regulate AI to ensure it is developed and deployed safely, and for the common good. That’s why Labour’s industrial strategy, published last year, set out our ambition for the UK to be the best place in the world for safe and responsible AI.

Having a trusted and well understood playing field where businesses feel they can grow with the right rules in place, helps innovation and attracts entrepreneurs and investment to the UK. As well as protecting against the worst, regulation is about attracting the best. So, it is important we get it right, which is why this week we have called for the government to close gaps in their AI White Paper by introducing proper oversight of the most powerful foundation models like GPT-4.

This could take a number of forms – from licensing to audits. It would give assurance and certainty to businesses and the public sector organisations looking to apply AI and unlock its economic potential. The government are right to be taking this more seriously now and working with international partners. But they are playing catch-up – the AI White Paper was heavily delayed and the government is rapidly having to build capacity after years of pursuing a “light touch approach” to AI.

We will be able to shape international standards only if we build on our strengths and support our sovereign capabilities in AI. This requires an active government, with the potential to respond with agility. Without this, not only could the UK lose its seat at the table, but we won’t realise the huge economic potential from leveraging AI.

Here, we must also learn from the deindustrialisation of the 1980s and tech revolution of the 1990s, a time when manual and clerical jobs were being automated or sent abroad to be done in other countries. The Conservative government let down entire communities, standing back while millions of them lost their jobs, rather than supporting workers through the transition. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again.

AI must work for working people. Every single job in the UK has the potential to be affected by AI. Goldman Sachs is forecasting that around 24 million UK jobs will be exposed to automation even with existing technology. It’s already being used in hiring and performance reviews, to determine the pay and hours of gig workers, and to automate the more routine tasks across professional services. The risks are very real that we end up widening the gap between those with the skills to take advantage and those without, who lose their jobs or have their jobs drastically changed. One thing is clear, we will need a revolution in learning and training in the UK, and it will need to begin in our schools immediately.

Just as they did in the 1980s, the Conservative government continues to be passive instead of providing an industrial strategy to ensure good jobs for British workers. When he was chancellor, the prime minister scrapped the Industrial Strategy Council, making it harder to respond to the impact of AI on our economy. Even when the government does act, it’s often toothless: the new Foundation Model Taskforce lacks the freedom and authority to drive innovation and ensure AI develops safely and securely. The Conservatives’ aversion to a strategic state leaves whole sectors without direction and businesses without the confidence to invest, ultimately harming working people.

That has to change. That’s why my government will be an active, mission-driven government, steering the development of AI to ensure it benefits working people.

Technology will play a huge part in the reform agenda behind each of my five missions. For our growth mission, for example, we will all use all levers from procurement to skills policy to support growing businesses, backed up by a new deal for working people that leaves no worker behind.

The health mission that we launched last week showed the power of AI to transform the NHS with, for example, AI being used in lung cancer screening to reduce misdiagnoses by 60 per cent.

Without a revolution in how we use technology, our incredibly ambitious missions will be out of reach. So, we’ve got to get serious and build up the technological capacity in government, public services and wider society.

It’s increasingly clear that we need a new role for government – that sets a powerful strategic direction and then works in partnership with the private sector at home and with allies abroad.

A hands-off approach in the formative years of AI would be the surest route to disaster. Strategic, agile leadership is needed in what is a fast-moving situation. That is the leadership I intend to provide.