WEBVTT - UK Cabinet Officer Minister Alex Burghart Talks AI in the UK

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm joined by Alex Burkhart, UK Cabinet Office Minister leading

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<v Speaker 2>on AI in the public sector. I want to start

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<v Speaker 2>out with your role in artificial intelligence. This role wouldn't

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<v Speaker 2>exist even as two or three years ago, and need

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<v Speaker 2>to live in the United Kingdom. We've seen this government,

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<v Speaker 2>led by the Prime Minister Richie Sunek, really want to

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<v Speaker 2>invest and hone AI even within the government. I know

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<v Speaker 2>you're in the beta mode of this red box. Tell

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<v Speaker 2>us a little bit about what you're doing, what you're

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<v Speaker 2>focused on, and how the government could potentially harness this.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks Amory, thank you for having me on and it's

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<v Speaker 3>great to be in New York to talk about the

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<v Speaker 3>work we're doing in the UK government at the moment.

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<v Speaker 3>As you said, the Prime Minister is really passionate about AI.

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<v Speaker 3>We held the first AI safety summit that the world

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<v Speaker 3>seen last year, very very productive. But the work that

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<v Speaker 3>I'm doing is on how we can deploy AI for

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<v Speaker 3>the public good and that means how we can you know,

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<v Speaker 3>it's about eighteen months ago we sat down and said

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<v Speaker 3>this new technology is emerging potentially one of the great

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<v Speaker 3>leaps forward. How are we going to harness it to

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<v Speaker 3>improve the quality of public services and drive down costs

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<v Speaker 3>for the taxpayer. And there's a number of ways in

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<v Speaker 3>which that's emerging. And the first is that you can

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<v Speaker 3>now automate tasks like never before. And I have you

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<v Speaker 3>mentioned Red Box, which is named after the you know,

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<v Speaker 3>the red ministerial box that British ministers carry around.

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<v Speaker 1>I still hope they'll do that for show and the Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely. But what we now have, what we've been building

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<v Speaker 3>is a tool that can summarize huge documents very very quickly,

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<v Speaker 3>that can relate them to what's been going on in Parliament,

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<v Speaker 3>what's been going on in the press, and can pull

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<v Speaker 3>out kind of key points that ministers need to focus on.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's saving my Private office hundreds of hours. But

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<v Speaker 3>it's also starting to build a tool that is going

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<v Speaker 3>to create institutional memory. Recreate institutional memory in our government departments.

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<v Speaker 3>So you know, when we're starting out on a project,

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<v Speaker 3>we'll be able to ask, how we tried something like

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<v Speaker 3>this before, why didn't we carry on with it? You

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<v Speaker 3>know what was good about it? It's a huge resource

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<v Speaker 3>of documentation that's currently lying unused in government is going

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<v Speaker 3>to come back into play.

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<v Speaker 2>So two questions immediately come to mind, one talent and

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<v Speaker 2>the other security.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's start with talent first.

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<v Speaker 2>If you work in AI, you can get paid handsomely

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<v Speaker 2>going to say open AI. How do you attract that

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<v Speaker 2>talent to say, come work as a civil servant.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a great question. We were really worried about this

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<v Speaker 3>at the start because we can't pay that money. And

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<v Speaker 3>you know, I've got a really great head of the program,

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<v Speaker 3>Laura Gilbert, who's out in New York with me at

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<v Speaker 3>the moment, and she said, as long as we can

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<v Speaker 3>pay something, but more than we pay our normal civil servants.

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<v Speaker 3>What we have is data. We have really good data,

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<v Speaker 3>lots of centralized data. And if you are, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>an AI addict, if you're one of these super smart,

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<v Speaker 3>crazy CLIs people who wants to get involved, the thing

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<v Speaker 3>you want to play with is data. And so we've

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<v Speaker 3>we've been looking at huge quantities of data and things

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<v Speaker 3>like public prescriptions health service, looking how we can improve

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<v Speaker 3>the quality of prescriptions, drive down costs. We've been looking

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<v Speaker 3>at how we can eliminate fraud and error in the

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<v Speaker 3>benefit system. We have two hundred and eighty billion pound

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<v Speaker 3>benefit and pension system, and we currently employ thousands and

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<v Speaker 3>thousands of people to check for fraud. We think we're

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<v Speaker 3>going to be able to vastly reduce that and improve.

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<v Speaker 1>So attracting the talent hasn't been an issue.

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<v Speaker 3>No, No, we've we've been really pleasantly surprised that loads

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<v Speaker 3>of people have applied and they passed our very very

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<v Speaker 3>stringent tests to get in.

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<v Speaker 1>The one concern as well as security.

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<v Speaker 2>You put all of this now, documents that live in

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<v Speaker 2>a cloud, you're working more with AI.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you safeguard that to say adversaries?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's a central question and we have a very

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<v Speaker 3>effective security service in the UK and we're constantly learning

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<v Speaker 3>from partners. I was outing talent in Estonia right on

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<v Speaker 3>the fringes of NATO a few weeks ago, learning from

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<v Speaker 3>them because they were party to some enormous cyber attacks

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<v Speaker 3>a few years ago and have become very very resilient.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's uppermost in our mind when we're vetting people,

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<v Speaker 3>but also when we're building systems to make sure that

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<v Speaker 3>they're not you, that they can't be attacked by enemy operator.

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<v Speaker 2>If you use AI in the defense sector in the

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<v Speaker 2>UK government, how important is it that all that technology comes.

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<v Speaker 1>In house, not out of house. Well because of these concerns.

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<v Speaker 3>No, no, I think it's not just defense. Right when

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<v Speaker 3>we were starting out, we could easily have gone and

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<v Speaker 3>picked a number of big companies, big UK companies have

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<v Speaker 3>fantastic a sector in London. But we wanted to understand

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<v Speaker 3>this technology ourselves. So we've hired this cracked team of

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<v Speaker 3>thirty people going up to seventy who are going to

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<v Speaker 3>be able to build bespoke systems for us Now. In

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<v Speaker 3>the future, I think there'll be a case of some

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<v Speaker 3>stuff we will build ourselves and use many times, some

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<v Speaker 3>stuff we will build bespoke for particular departments, perhaps like defense,

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<v Speaker 3>and some things we will buy in. But having people

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<v Speaker 3>who actually know how it works and know what government's

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<v Speaker 3>needs are I think is central to getting this revolution right.

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<v Speaker 2>I know you're in New York, so you're missing all

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<v Speaker 2>the morning press in the UK after a critical election

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<v Speaker 2>last night and you saw the Bellwether parliamentary seat that

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<v Speaker 2>the Conservatives lost, do you honestly think the Conservative Party

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<v Speaker 2>if the elections are going to be held this year?

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<v Speaker 2>At some point I know the Prime Minister said at

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<v Speaker 2>the second half of the year, do you think the

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<v Speaker 2>current conservaives will be able to hold onto power.

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<v Speaker 3>I do think they will be able to and I'll

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<v Speaker 3>tell you right, look, we've had a tough night. The

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<v Speaker 3>truth is that in twenty twenty one, when this cycle

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<v Speaker 3>of elections was last on, we had a vaccine bounce

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<v Speaker 3>that was a very good year for us. We always

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<v Speaker 3>suspected we might come down. But there is a silver

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<v Speaker 3>lining to this cloud, and it's the fact that Ben

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<v Speaker 3>Houchin are mayor in Teesside, in the northeast, traditionally quite

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<v Speaker 3>a deprived part of the country, which under the Conservatives

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<v Speaker 3>is now flourishing. He's won, he's held on, He's done

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<v Speaker 3>a very good job there, and I think when it

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<v Speaker 3>comes to the election and people actually have to make

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<v Speaker 3>a choice about who they want to see in power

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<v Speaker 3>for the next five years. Is it going to be

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<v Speaker 3>the Prime Minister and the Conservatives that has got us

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<v Speaker 3>through COVID, that has seen off inflation and the energy

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<v Speaker 3>crisis and has a plan for the future, or is

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<v Speaker 3>it going to be a Labor party that really has

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<v Speaker 3>no plan and no agenda. I think they're going to

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<v Speaker 3>come with us.

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<v Speaker 2>Do now regret though potentially removing Boris Johnson. Just from

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<v Speaker 2>an electability point of view, No.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't because Boris certainly had his strengths, but things

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<v Speaker 3>weren't working out and he made some mistakes and we

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<v Speaker 3>couldn't have that those mistakes haven't happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Besides Ai, which I know the Prime Minister is really

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<v Speaker 2>focused on, but a lot of that has feels a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit like it's not tangible yet to voters and

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<v Speaker 2>the electorate. What does Rischie Sunak need to do. Number

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<v Speaker 2>one thing he needs to do going into this election.

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<v Speaker 3>So I think there are some really good stories to tell.

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<v Speaker 3>I mentioned t side up in the Northeast when I

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<v Speaker 3>was the Minister for Skills. I was lucky enough to

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<v Speaker 3>be part of this great piece of work where Ben Houchin,

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<v Speaker 3>the mayor, persuaded the energy companies to come and build

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<v Speaker 3>hydrogen plants on the condition that they offered training courses

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<v Speaker 3>for young boys and girls in the local colleges. So

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<v Speaker 3>you have, you know, the government setting up a free

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<v Speaker 3>pot and tea side, the mayor bringing in the business,

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<v Speaker 3>and then the business securing the training places so that

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<v Speaker 3>young people get those new jobs in their community. And

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<v Speaker 3>that is what we call leveling up in the UK.

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<v Speaker 3>And we're starting to see the fruits of it, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>new business in towns which have been left behind, and

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<v Speaker 3>local people getting those jobs and adding to the prosperity

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<v Speaker 3>of the places where they live. That's something that didn't

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<v Speaker 3>happen under thirteen years of labor. It's happening under the

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<v Speaker 3>Conservatives and I've been proud to be part of it.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you want to break some news. Do you know

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<v Speaker 1>when the election will be?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, i'd love to tell you about the primary.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know yet. I don't know yet. Okay, all right,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll leave it there. Thank you so much for your time.

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<v Speaker 2>That was Alex Burghart, UK Cabinet Officer Minister leaning on

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<v Speaker 2>AI in the public sector.