Tony Blair has urged the new Labour government to harness the “truly revolutionary” potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to help radically reform the provision of public services.
The former Prime Minister is expected to highlight a series of policy proposals, developed by the influential Tony Blair Institute (TBI), which could create £12bn of fiscal space a year by the end of this parliament.
“The simple and unavoidable truth is that unless we improve growth and productivity, and drive value and efficiency through our public spending, we’re going to become poorer,” he is expected to say at the TBI’s Future of Britain Conference.
“Stable government and some clear early wins can definitely help. But there is only one game-changer. Harnessing effectively the 21st century technological revolution.
“Things which were impossible will become possible; advances which would have taken decades, will happen in a few years or even months; the value we can add, the improvements in efficiency we can make, the radical benefits in outcomes we can secure, could be truly revolutionary,” he will say.
The conference comes just days after Labour was elected with a landslide majority and will feature new health secretary Wes Streeting and Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Blair is expected to draw attention to a raft of policy proposals published over the past few years by the TBI, which he would like to see put into practice by the new government. The TBI’s main focus has been on the potential for new technologies, like AI, to transform the delivery of public services. Previous reports from the TBI suggest that embracing AI in the public sector could save a fifth of workforce time and create £10bn in savings by the end of this year. Investing in AI-enabled education, meanwhile, could boost GDP by six per cent in the long term, the TBI’s estimates.
The TBI already has close links to the new government, seconding researchers to Labour to help it develop its policy programme. Keir Starmer said he has regularly received texts from Blair over the past few days, advising him on what he needs to do as he moves into government.