A statement from the deputy prime minister, artificial intelligence will have a greater impact on Britain than the Industrial Revolution

According to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, artificial intelligence (AI) will have a greater impact on Britain than the industrial revolution. According to Dowden, AI has the ability to increase productivity and automate repetitive work in an interview with The Times. He did, however, also draw attention to the serious danger that AI poses to democracy. In the upcoming months and years, numerous parts of life will undergo a radical upheaval, according to Dowden, who described the oncoming influence of AI.

AI is already being used by the Home Office to process applications for asylum, and there are potential implications for ministerial red boxes to reduce paperwork. AI could enable governments to make decisions more quickly by streamlining operations. While ministers would not delegate their decision-making to AI, Dowden underlined that the technology may speed up the process by effectively collecting and analyzing enormous volumes of data.

Dowden compared the development of AI to the discovery of the vehicle and acknowledged that the emergence of AI will require an economic reorganization. He stated that it is the role of the government to make sure that people can adjust to this change, and he added that AI has the ability to automate laborious portions of work so that people may concentrate on more rewarding duties.

However, Dowden also issued a warning that terrorists might use AI for evil objectives like gathering more information about hazardous items or carrying out hacking activities. He forewarned that AI might enable hacking shortcuts and enable disgruntled people to commit harmful acts. Dowden emphasized the necessity to manage these dangers without making exaggerated claims and instead relying on supporting data.

Following recent data leaks, including the disclosure of details about over 10,000 officers and employees at the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Dowden made his remarks. This data breach illustrated the risks connected to large-scale data breaches. According to Dowden, occurrences like these are an example of the dangers that ministers have been warning against.