Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan Debate

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Department: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan

Lincoln Jopp Excerpts
Monday 13th January 2025

(2 days, 14 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Peter Kyle Portrait Peter Kyle
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The thing about AI is that it is not a singular technology; it is a general purpose technology. Just in health alone, AI is already being used in hospitals’ radiography departments, such as in Huddersfield, to make sure that scanning is more precise. We can detect early patterns quicker, so we get to disease quicker, and productivity is increasing—in Huddersfield’s case, from 700 to 1,000 scans a week. Simultaneously, AI is ensuring that doctors’ time is used more wisely in the test pilots that we are running. We are using digital technology to create a more human experience, because doctors can spend more time with patients. That is what happens when we use AI and digital technology wisely. It is why we, unlike the previous Government, will not sit on the sidelines and let the market do business as it sees fit. We will use the power of Government, and the agency that comes with it, to ensure that this technology is used for the benefit of all.

Lincoln Jopp Portrait Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
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I do not know whether the Secretary of State has had a moment to read The Times this morning, but it reports that the Chancellor is using a new AI tool to answer her emails. It is 70% accurate and is

“performing as good or better than existing processes”,

which does not say a great deal for the ability of the Chancellor to answer her own emails. Be that as it may, could the Secretary of State please reassure us that any AI tool being used across Government will ensure that any statement brought to the Dispatch Box by the Chancellor is 100% accurate?

Peter Kyle Portrait Peter Kyle
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I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are piloting, developing and hoping to deploy AI across Government to drive efficiencies and effectiveness, and to serve the people of this country better than ever before—and certainly better, more efficiently and more effectively than they experienced during the previous 14 years.