Government AI roll-outs threatened by outdated IT systems

Keir Starmer, speaking at UCL in January, launched a plan to harness AI to spur growth and efficiency, but the cross-party public accounts committee questions whether the public sector is ready for the pace of change this would require. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

The government’s ambition to boost efficiency by embedding AI in all aspects of its work risks being undermined by out-of-date technology, poor quality data and a lack of skilled staff, an influential Commons committee has warned.

The report by the cross-party public accounts committee (PAC) found that more than 20 government IT systems identified as “legacy”, meaning out of date and unsupported, have yet to be given funding to improve them.