The event was jointly organised by the Fabian Society, Britain’s oldest political think tank, and Bright Blue, an independent think tank that seeks to defend and improve liberal society. It brought together leading decision makers and opinion formers from across party lines to explore the future of the UK’s technology sector, as well as how public policy can optimise the benefits and minimise the challenges for a wider group of people, especially those on modest incomes.
Crowley was joined by Lord Vaizey of Didcot, former Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Joy Allen, Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham, and Jeni Tennison OBE, who chairs the GDS Responsible AI Advisory Panel.
Presenting the findings of the Fabian Society’s recent report, Adopt, Innovate, Transform: how civil servants can help to deliver a smarter state, Crowley told attendees that the stand out finding was how willing the civil service is to use AI.
The report, which was supported by the FDA and co-authored by the FDA’s Research Intern Aoife Donaghy, included findings from a survey of 2,067 current civil servants. Crowley explained how the research found 72% of civil servants had either introduced AI to improve how their team works or want to.
Agreeing with Tennison’s argument that for digital transformation to succeed “it must be done with, not to” the workforce, the Assistant General Secretary highlighted that 66% of respondents said that they wanted to be more involved in AI adoption but only 29% said they had been consulted on AI adoption in their workplace.
Reflecting on the government’s current rhetoric about AI adoption across the public sector, Crowley suggested that “instead of just thinking about efficiency savings” ministers would do well to “focus on how it can be used to deliver better services for the public”, which may require some up front investment before any potential savings can be realised.
The summit also featured keynote speeches from Dr Ben Spencer MP, Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Lucy Rigby KC MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
Adopt, Innovate, Transform put forward a series of recommendations for the government to build a genuine “move fast and fix things culture”:
You can read the report in full here and read more about its findings here.
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