On 13 January, the UK government unveiled the AI Opportunities Action Plan, which urges Britain to help shape the AI revolution, stressing the need to be an ‘AI maker, not just an AI taker.’
The action plan’s recommendations fall into three themes, aiming to drive economic growth, benefit public services and increase personal opportunities.The plan stresses the importance of securing a sufficient supply of computational power, necessitating long term planning and investment for infrastructure, and a proposed expansion of the UK’s investment in data centres.
A key part of the AI Opportunities Action Plan is the development of AI Growth Zones (AIGZs), areas across the country that will speed up planning approvals for the rapid build-out of data centres, give them better access to the energy grid, and draw in investment from around the world. The first will be in Culham, Oxfordshire – home to the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority.
“The proposed development of AIGZs presents a logical and effective way to fast-track new AI infrastructure, and to co-develop it with distributed energy resources – addressing the many power challenges that have historically hindered national developments,” comments Mark Yeeles, Vice President, Secure Power division, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland.
It should also be noted that, with more data centres likely to be built outside major cities, key terrestrial routes linking the north and south, east and west of the UK will need upgrades to deliver high-capacity optical and dark fibre capacity.
Moreover, while the UK’s IT sector is broadly positive about the announcement, security concerns have been raised from several quarters.
“Data will play a central role in Britain’s AI future, requiring comprehensive data management systems and data privacy protocols to ensure that AI is trained on trustworthy data and that data inputs don’t breach privacy laws,” says John Lucey, VP EMEA North for Cellebrite. “In key sectors such as policing and defence, organisations need to be able to trust AI systems to deliver accurate results in a safe manner, maintaining client confidentiality while automating manual processes to drive efficiencies.”
“We must not forget the increased threat this technology has created. AI is being deployed by criminals to create sophisticated phishing and social engineering attacks, widening the attack surface,” notes Andrew Rose, CSO at SoSafe. “Even the benevolent AI that organisations adopt for their own benefit can become a new attack surface, subject to innovative attacks such as data poisoning. It is therefore critical that public-private partnerships to boost AI rollout must be supplemented with the appropriate security measures.”
With many developments and deliverables to track over the next 12 months, including a long-term compute strategy and delivery of the first AI Growth Zone, 2025 is set to be the biggest year yet for AI in the UK.
“The timescales set out in the government’s response indicate that the action plan’s recommendations are being treated with urgency and we can expect significant levels of activity over the next 12 months,” confirms Phillip Souta, Global Director of Tech Policy at law firm Clifford Chance. “Organisations should consider how they may wish to engage with the UK government and regulators on the development of AI policy, plans for unlocking data access, or as part of regulatory sandboxes.”
