AI is ‘defining currency’ of our age, says Liz Kendall

Artificial intelligence is the “defining currency” of our age, UK technology secretary Liz Kendall has said as she set out plans to “rebuild Britain for the new world”.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), the minister pledged to work with other “middle power nations” on AI to improve global security.

This includes planning joint investment in the AI value chain and working together to boost resilience on AI security.

Kendall described AI as the “engine of economic power and hard power” and warned the UK must “shape this technology, not just be shaped by it”.

“We must ensure its development reflects our interests and values and plays to our strengths. And we must be ready to seize the opportunities, as well as build resilience to the risks. In short, we must have greater control,” she added.

She said the UK Government would back more AI companies in the UK, including via the recently announced Sovereign AI venture fund.

An AI hardware plan will be launched in June, setting out an ambition to break into the AI chips market which could net $50bn in revenue and create thousands of jobs, Kendall said.

She warned that not to invest in the technology would be a “betrayal” of Britain, because it would leave the country “at its mercy and whim”.

AI is being increasingly used by governments around the world to bolster military efforts.

The chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, Richard Horne, told a conference last week that the UK faced a “perfect storm” of cybersecurity threats, with growing risks from hostile states such as China, Iran and Russia.

At CYBERUK in Glasgow, he said developments in AI and geopolitical tensions were giving rising to a period of “tumultuous uncertainty”. 

In her speech at Rusi, Kendall acknowledged that “geopolitical rivalry is driving the tech boom”.

She also said it is “driving political discord”, with social media, tech and AI promoting “populist politics that shape our increasingly divided and volatile world”.

But she also said the UK was “standing on the cusp of a technological British renaissance” which could bring benefits both economically and to national security.