Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
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Geo Focus: The United Kingdom
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Geo-Specific
‘Humphrey’ Meant so Streamline Civil Service Work Across Whitehall

The British government on Tuesday launched artificial intelligence-powered tools intended to help civil servants offer improved public service in a first step toward implementing a plan meant to transform the United Kingdom into a world AI leader.
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The Department for Science, Technology and Innovation unveiled the generative AI suite called “Humphrey” that will be deployed across government offices. The AI package consists of tools to help policymakers analyze decades-old parliamentary debates, an AI transcription service for generating meeting summaries, as well as for policy summarizing and regulation analysis.
The tools have been designed to help civil servants streamline work across Whitehall and cut back consultation time. With the deployment of the tool, the government is estimating to save 45 billion pounds by doing away with “antiquated processes,” DSIT said. The name is a nod to a Thatcher-era BBC sitcom set in the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs, featuring a wily civil servant named Humphrey Appleby.
“Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money,” Science Secretary Peter Kyle said. “My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our plan for change, improve lives and drive growth.”
A new team consisting of public officials across the different departments will lead the oversight of the application. The team is currently reviewing applying the tool to help citizens with long-term health conditions or disabilities access medical aid quickly. Currently, these services are spread across 40 different services within nine organizations, causing delays in accessing the services, DSIT said.
“We’ve already set out plans to transform the NHS App so patients can choose providers and book appointments, and we’re harnessing artificial intelligence to deliver faster and smarter care across the country,” Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary said about the government’s AI plans .
The unveiling of the tools comes on the heels of the government announcement of its AI Opportunities Action Pla. The plan seeks to scale up the U.K’s AI capabilities through increased investments, pushing cross-sectoral AI adoption and transitioning the U.K. into an “AI maker” within the next six months (see: British Prime Minister Starmer Unveils New AI Plan)./p>
Key recommendations include requiring all government offices to map out artificial intelligence uses within their organizations, develop a prototype for different capabilities, and identify successful use cases to offer better public services to citizens.
Before the large-scale deployment of the AI tools, the government should first run a risk assessment to determine the impact of the AI systems on the public, said Gaia Marcus, director of Ada Lovelace Institute.
“Much of the plan will require careful implementation to succeed. And there will be no bigger roadblock to ‘AI’s transformative potential’ than a failure in public confidence,” Marcus said. “The government should therefore be cautious of formally requiring watchdogs to implement growth goals.”