Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment

Debate between Lord Empey and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Monday 13th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that AI poses challenges and opportunities to those in the labour market. The AI skills boost programme that the Government have announced is extremely ambitious in its reach. It will see a major expansion to upskill 10 million workers, which is a huge endeavour and will see the UK fit to grab the opportunities of the AI technology that is coming today.

[Lord Empey (UUP)]

My Lords, will the Minister tell the House what discussions she has had with our universities and colleges of further education to assess what changes they are making in the curriculum that they are offering to students and the nature of those? There is a risk with AI that a lot of junior degree activity will be removed. It is therefore also important to find out what research these institutions are undertaking to try and assess the future implications.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

We work closely with Skills England and with the DfE to understand the changes that AI is bringing and what that means in terms of the education system, what skills students need to develop and how to apply them. We are supporting the expansion of AI education in universities, for example through the TechLocal AI degree accelerator. This is a conversation that is ongoing. As the noble Lord suggests, it is something that we need to be very mindful of.