Tanya Weaver Tue 14 Jan 2025
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2025/01/14/industry-reacts-governments-ai-action-plan-ramp-ai-adoption-across-uk
The tech and engineering industry has reacted – mostly positively – to the announcement of the UK’s AI action plan, although many have drawn attention to the challenges and risks associated with the initiative.
Yesterday (13 January) the UK government unveiled details of a wide-ranging AI opportunities action plan to boost the country’s role in developing and deploying AI. The aim is to use AI tools to boost economic growth and deliver public services more efficiently.
Peter Kyle, science, innovation and technology secretary, said: “This government is determined that the UK is not left behind in the global race for AI, that’s why the actions we commit to will ensure that the benefits are spread throughout the UK so all citizens will reap the rewards of the bet we make today.”
Industry leaders such as autonomous vehicle developer Wayve, generative AI (GenAI) start-up Synthesia and data centre provider Nscale, alongside US GenAI giants OpenAI and Anthropic, put their weight behind the government’s announcement and reacted positively to the wave of measures announced.
There has also been much positivity from smaller companies in the potential for AI to drive innovation and economic growth. Gordon Baggott, director of AI at analytics consultancy 4most, said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement marks a pivotal moment for the UK to seize the global AI opportunity and what could be the next industrial revolution.”
Ryan Cox, head of AI at tech software firm Synechron, agrees that AI has the “scope to supercharge the country’s economy, businesses and people” through the productivity gains that can be expected from deployment of AI tools.
However, others were more sceptical. Sheldon Lachambre, director of engineering at cloud optimisation company DoiT, said that the public sector should approach AI adoption with both caution and foresight, or it risks operational and financial inefficiency.
Lachambre said: “Rapid implementation without sufficient preparation risks repeating the challenges seen during the hyper-growth of cloud computing over the last decade. Government and industry leaders should adopt a strategic and cost-conscious approach to AI.”
Data centres and energy considerations
With data centres being the backbone of AI deployment, there have been concerns raised about how these facilities will be powered.
Rupert Bedell, CEO at internet services provider company Fasthosts, said: “Managing their energy demands will define whether this AI plan will be a sustainable path forward.
“The proposed AI Energy Council must lead in establishing robust standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy use in new data centres. Equally, upgrading existing facilities with advanced technologies and modular designs will be essential to reducing their environmental impact. Relying solely on carbon offsets will not be enough, as true sustainability requires meaningful changes to how data centres are built and maintained throughout their life cycle.”
Richard Clifford, director of solutions for Keysource, a provider of solutions for data centres, said: “Beyond ensuring power is sourced from renewable sources, there is a significant yet under-utilised opportunity in reusing the heat generated by data centres. Instead of treating this heat as waste, it can be redirected to local district heating networks, reducing overall energy consumption while benefiting nearby communities. The site selection phase is critical to ensuring these centres are strategically placed near heat consumers to maximise this potential.”
What about quantum computing?
With the government aiming to deploy AI at scale, there also needs to be a focus on computing power. While the action plan mentions an ambition of building a new supercomputer in Oxfordshire, Georges-Olivier Reymond, co-founder and co-CEO of computing firm Pasqal, highlights the lack of any mention of quantum computing.
Reymond said: “Currently, the primary challenge in AI advancement is the bottleneck created by limited computational resources. Quantum computing promises to overcome this by offering unprecedented processing power that can enhance AI by accelerating training processes, optimising algorithms and facilitating new approaches to machine learning and data processing.
“As the UK’s AI opportunities action plan progresses, it will be important to monitor whether quantum computing is incorporated into the discussion. For now, however, its absence could limit the plan’s long-term impact and effectiveness to fully capitalise on the potential of AI.”
Focus on UK resources and tools
Others are concerned that the government is preoccupied with deploying AI tools at speed and may not be focusing on where these tools are actually developed.
Harvey Lewis, Ernst & Young partner, consulting – AI, said: “The UK is already home to key industry players, a vibrant R&D environment, and a strong tech and cyber-security base. To capitalise on this, the government must identify and nurture current tech innovators, ensuring they remain in the UK. Coordination between government and the private sector will be critical to achieving this.”
David Rajan, CEO and co-founder of Opteran, an AI spin-out company from the University of Sheffield, said: “I want to get reassurances from the government that this is not simply a cut and paste of US policy on AI, where we solely look to embrace the AI tools coming out of Silicon Valley.
“There are many AI pioneers in the UK and the government would do well to focus pioneering the UK’s achievements, to grow our GDP rather than deploying US thinking and approaches, which will ultimately just benefit their own countries’ economies. From my perspective we’re dropping the ball on all these new industries and not thinking creatively about how we foster them.”
Risk factors of AI – regulation
One of the risk factors most commented on regarding the government’s action plan is around regulation and security.
Dr Graham Herries, chair of the IET’s Digital Futures Policy Centre, said: “It’s critical that the appropriate legal and regulatory structures are in place to allow AI’s safe development and use but that do not stifle innovation.
“The UK’s most valuable position on the international AI spectrum would be to offer increased safety standards for assessing a new AI product. This would help regulators do their job and drive innovation.”
Stephen Almond, executive director for regulatory risk at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), said: “AI has huge potential to transform businesses and public services, which is why it is a priority area for the ICO. Data protection is essential to realising this opportunity and ensuring that the public can have trust in AI. As a whole economy regulator, we are committed to supporting organisations to innovate and grow responsibly while upholding people’s rights and freedoms.”
Matthew Holman, IT lawyer at law firm Cripps, said that the UK was lagging way behind in suitable AI regulation.
He said: “The PM said: “This is the global race of our lives and I want Britain to be at the front of the race.’ In order to do that, the UK government needs to move quickly to strike the right balance of AI regulation and investment and it needs to be ready to invest more, a lot more.”
Dominic Wellington, enterprise architect at IA firm SnapLogic, agrees that safety and regulation should be a top priority for government rather than deploying AI tools without the proper safety measures in place.
He said: ”Rushing untested initiatives to market is a risky endeavour, and the role of government should be to act as an impartial referee, not to join the fray.
“The government can and should enforce safety in outcomes, and offer support to industry in achieving those goals. It can do this by mandating implementations of ‘guardrails’ in AI systems, and requiring their certification before they are deployed in particularly sensitive domains.
“Speed should not be the government’s own goal; instead it should focus on creating the conditions for private enterprise to operate at speed, and to do so without impacting the safety of users and citizens.”
Lack of AI skills
Many commentators also drew attention to the lack of skills in industry that will hinder the ability to take advantage of AI.
Herries said: “The action plan will need to be underpinned by a resilient skills pipeline – one which the UK is currently lacking in emerging tech.
“While progress has been made with some government initiatives such as funded AI PhDs and skills bootcamps, these do not go far enough to addressing the skills gaps that are starting to appear at the chartered/technician levels.”
Baggott at 4most said: “As we enter the ‘global race of our lives’ investment in AI education and developing talent is crucial, helping to build a stronger, more competitive UK AI ecosystem that can outperform on the global stage.”
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