AI: Workforce Training

Baroness Kidron Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Viscount has asked the same question that I answered when I replied to the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones. We will be upskilling some 7.5 million workers right across the country. I can also share what we are doing with public sector workers: across the department we are working on AI adoption right across government. We back the Government Digital Service’s AI playbook and its 4,000-strong community of practice, which is helping teams use AI effectively and efficiently. We are skilling up early exemplars, such as AI tools for probation caseworkers and tax investigation, to demonstrate how AI can enhance services. A new £42 million fund will support frontier AI exemplars to boost productivity in HR, finance and policy. Through i.AI—the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence—we are also building reusable AI tools and upskilling civil servants right across the country.

[Baroness Kidron (CB)]

My Lords, I am very much behind AI training and the vision of the noble Lord, Lord Evans, in his supplementary question. Having benefited from exemplary instruction from a senior research scientist at one of the world’s leading AI companies, I can see how powerful they are. But the noble Lord talked about growth, and AI skills are not the only contributing skills. Creators have been forced to watch as the Government strike deals with the very tech companies that have used their copyrighted work without permission or payment. Can the Minister explain the rationale for sacrificing one of the UK’s most productive and globally respected industries in favour of another that offers fewer jobs and less revenue and whose major beneficiaries are not in the UK but offshore?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for the work that she has done in this area. The Government are not sacrificing the contribution made by the creative sector. AI offers significant opportunities, including for creators, who are already using it to enhance their work. I know of designers and artists using AI to support their work. However, we acknowledge the concerns about how AI models utilise creative content; of course that is a concern. That is why we are working closely with artists, rights holders and the tech sector to get this right. We have launched expert groups, are engaging with Parliament and will publish an update this year, and a full report in March 2026. Reform is urgent but it must be balanced. We are committed to protecting creators’ rights and ensuring that AI supports innovation and fair growth right across the creative and tech sectors.