‘Mainlined into UK’s veins’: Labour announces huge public rollout of AI
Plans to make UK world leader in AI sector include opening access to NHS and other public data
You're viewing a single thread.
Boosting productivity is a good idea. But we know that, since the 1970s, too much of the wealth that increased productivity brings has gone to the wealthiest. So, unless there's a plan to change that, I have to assume this will just make the very rich even richer.
We desperately need to improve productivity, but I’m not convinced that going all in on AI is a great bet. The tech is still in its infancy and currently very unreliable. Letting it loose in places like the NHS sounds like a recipe for disaster.
By all means open doors for research, but I don’t think this tech is ready for critical implementations yet. We’d get more reliable productivity gains by investing in upskilling workers instead.
You're right - boosting productivity in a way that lets the wealthy hoover up those gains is actually a glass half-full perspective! Also very possible it does nothing good at all (but also makes the rich richer).
In the short term, productivity can be improved by increasing uncompensated overtime and liberal use of the cosh. That doesn't mean it's a good idea, or one that's viable in the longer term.
