Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports indicating that the UK faces growing pressure on its ability to tackle the increasing scale and severity of cyber threats arising from the development of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to invest in and encourage the development of new AI technologies in the UK.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale and win globally, ensuring conditions are right for global AI companies to want to call the UK home. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will outline how we achieve this by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access.
Our publicly funded portfolio of AI R&D investments is worth over £1 billion, with commitments extending beyond 2030. Key investments include £217M in two tranches of AI centres for doctoral training, £86M in AI research hubs, and £100M into BridgeAI, which supports businesses to adopt AI and develop cutting-edge AI technologies.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address potential copyright issues with generative AI models being trained on protected creative works.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes that greater certainty over copyright and AI would support growth in both the creative industries and the AI sector.
This is a complex topic, and the Government is taking the time to hear stakeholder views and to carefully consider the issues, including the use of creative works to train generative AI models.
The Government is engaging with stakeholders to inform its approach and will soon be launching a consultation on a package of measures to address copyright and AI issues.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to create the necessary infrastructure to encourage increased investment in artificial intelligence.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out how we achieve these goals by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access, and detailing steps to support AI adoption across the economy. The Government has secured over £24 billion worth of investment into digital and AI infrastructure at the International Investment Summit.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help the UK become a hub for artificial intelligence development.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to boost economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out how we achieve these goals, by securing the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access, and setting out steps to support AI adoption across the economy.
In the King’s Speech we committed to introducing new, binding requirements on the handful of companies developing the most advanced AI models which will support growth and innovation by ending uncertainty for AI developers, strengthening public trust and boosting business confidence in AI adoption.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the new AI-powered chatbot on the Gov.uk website.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
GOV.UK Chat is a prototype chatbot developed by the Government Digital Service. It was first tested with users in November 2023. Results showed that nearly 70 percent of users found the chatbot’s responses useful and that its answers were accurate 80 percent of the time. These insights were used to improve the prototype ahead of the current pilot, which commenced on 7 November 2024. This pilot will be live for approximately 4 weeks, after which GDS will make an assessment of its effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent Jabra study Great ExpectAItions: Work in the age of AI, which found that only 27 per cent of workers use AI in their everyday work.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy to drive innovation and kickstart economic growth. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out a roadmap to achieve this, including how we can strengthen our AI skills and talent base to ensure AI can be used by workers across the economy. The establishment of Skills England will also be key to embedding the right skills in workers, tackling skills shortages and supporting sustained economic growth.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract more AI experts to the UK.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan will outline steps needed to support the growth of the AI sector, including training and attracting top AI talent. This will build on existing programmes including the AI and Data Science Masters Conversion courses. This year over 4,000 students are expected to graduate from these courses, and historically 90% employed graduates from these programmes work in a role related to AI or data science.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and invest in the technology industry.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is taking action to support the UK’s world-leading technology industry, which will be at the heart of our new industrial strategy. The Budget will see Research and Development spending rising to a record level of over £20 billion, with DSIT’s R&D budget increasing by 8.5% in real terms. The new Regulatory Innovation Office will reduce red tape for our most innovative companies and speed up technology development. And we are unlocking further investment in industries of the future, including from institutional investors, through the British Growth Partnership, the National Wealth Fund and the Pensions Review.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure copyright is protected regarding the increasing development of generative AI.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the value of human-centred creativity underpinned by copyright and is committed to supporting the creative industries and AI sectors to grow in partnership.
We are urgently considering the issues concerning generative AI training and copyright. Most recently, the Minister for AI and Digital Government and the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism held roundtables with the creative and AI sectors in September.
Whilst clarity is needed, this is a complex topic and we must take time to hear and carefully consider stakeholder views, so DSIT and DCMS continue to engage with them to inform our approach.