British PM vows AI will usher in ‘golden age’

By AFP
January 14, 2025
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits for the arrival of France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, on January 9, 2025 ahead of a bilateral meeting. —AFP

LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday laid out his vision to harness the power of artificial intelligence to boost Britain´s flagging economy, promising flexible regulations amid concerns about the technology´s unchecked use.

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Starmer´s Labour government announced an “action plan” to make the UK “the world leader” in AI, with the “full weight” of its half a million strong civil service getting behind the endeavour.

The “AI Opportunities Action Plan” includes 50 recommendations that the government will implement to boost AI-driven efficiency in the public sector, from education to detecting potholes.

“AI is the greatest force for change in the world right now. I am determined to harness it to usher in a golden age of public service reform,” Starmer wrote in the Financial Times ahead of a speech.

Britain -- which has the third-largest AI industry after the United States and China -- does not need to “walk down a US or an EU path on AI regulation”, Starmer added, as he looks to attract billions of pounds of investment from AI firms.

“We can go our own way, taking a distinctively British approach that will test AI long before we regulate, so that everything we do will be proportionate and grounded in the science.”

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