Britain has entered the AI race, although the office printer is still waiting to learn where the starting line is and whether it needs to bring its own password.
The Government says it wants the UK to achieve the fastest AI adoption in the G7. It has also announced a £2.5 billion boost for AI and quantum technology, including £500 million for promising British AI companies. This is serious money, so the printer has stopped asking for toner and started asking whether it qualifies as strategic infrastructure.
The plan presents artificial intelligence as a route to economic growth. That is sensible enough. A country cannot win a technology race by shouting at a modem and hoping it develops ambition. Britain needs investment, skills and the confidence to press update without first arranging a committee meeting about the risks of pressing update.
Quantum computing joins the programme with a major procurement effort and expanded support for the sector. The Government describes quantum as a way to explore possibilities that traditional computers cannot handle so easily. The printer has responded by exploring every possible reason not to print a two page document.
The official ambition is not merely to experiment. The Government wants British companies to start, scale and succeed here, while AI and quantum are expected to create jobs and support long term growth. Somewhere, a spreadsheet has been given a heroic soundtrack and informed that national renewal depends on its pivot tables.
There is an obvious appeal in asking advanced technology to solve difficult problems. It may improve research, public services and industry. It may also produce 47 versions of an email whose only instruction was “make it warmer”, before recommending a meeting to discuss the emotional temperature of the first 46.
The real challenge is adoption. Technology can be funded, announced and photographed beside a suitably serious minister, but somebody still has to make it work in an ordinary workplace. This is where the national strategy may meet its oldest technical obstacle, namely the person who knows the Wi Fi password being on holiday.
Britain may yet lead the G7 in AI adoption. The printer is ready to help, provided the race is postponed until it has restarted, accepted the new terms, installed an update, forgotten the password and printed a confirmation slip proving that it has done absolutely none of those things.
Source: GOV.UK.
