The report finds that the UK’s adoption of AI is a key part of state strategy that appears to be principally motivated by improving economic performance and bolstering innovation.
The paper highlights risks resulting from how AI systems are being developed, procured and deployed across the public sector. These include:
A lack of scrutiny of AI systems being procured for the benefit of government departments and for the powerful companies that provide them, but not necessarily for the benefit of the general public.
Government partnerships with private companies risk abuses of power and state capture through Big Tech successfully lobbying for further use of their technology across state organs.
AI is being procured in a way that stifles competition and innovation, and risks government departments being locked into agreements with mostly large US technology companies. This position risks the UK’s sovereignty in times of geopolitical uncertainty and economic coercion.
AI systems can produce and perform policy unseen, leaving the public in the dark about how life-changing decisions are being made.
There is minimal indication that AI development is being undertaken with reference to laws on data protection, equality, and human rights. Even if a court rules against the use of a specific AI system, legal judgments cannot address systemic issues with the technology itself and how its use contributes to further societal harms.