Embracing artificial intelligence will not lead to job losses “overall”, a Treasury minister has said as Rachel Reeves prepares to commit the UK to accelerating adoption of the technology.
The Chancellor is expected to pledge the UK to “the fastest AI adoption in the G7” when she delivers the annual Mais lecture in the City of London on Tuesday.
Arguing that Britain “cannot stand still” in a world “defined by technological change”, she will warn that the country can either “bury our heads in the sand” or “chart our own course” when it comes to AI.
She is expected to back her ambition with a £500 million “sovereign AI fund”, to be launched in April, and a £1 billion programme to procure advanced quantum computers.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously spoken about AI as a driver of economic growth and a key part of Britain’s economic future.
But adoption of the technology has sparked concerns that it could lead to major job losses, particularly among graduates and those in junior, white-collar positions.
Ahead of Ms Reeves’s lecture, Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson sought to play down the prospect of job losses, pointing to official forecasts suggesting the total number of jobs in the economy would increase over the next five years.
He told Sky News that “big shocks” in economic history, such as the industrial revolution, had seen “changes in the amount of jobs that happen in the economy, or the types of jobs that we have”, but added: “You don’t see job losses overall.”
Cautioning against attempting to “run away” from new technologies, Mr Tomlinson said it was important to embrace AI to prevent the benefits “flowing to other countries”.
He said: “And then that means there’s more opportunity, for if AI does mean that a particular company, rather than hiring 10 people, can hire six or seven, that those three people that would have otherwise been hired have got new opportunities to go to.”
Ms Reeves’s lecture comes as the UK economy continues to face challenges, as official figures showed the economy failed to grow in January even before the spike in oil prices caused by the war in Iran.
Accelerating adoption of AI is one of three “big choices” the Chancellor is expected to set out on Tuesday, along with closer ties with the EU and “growth in every part of Britain”.
The Tories accused the Chancellor of economic mismanagement and said her commitment to closer ties with Brussels signalled a Labour desire to undo Brexit, which the Government has denied.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Under increasing pressure having mismanaged the economy, Reeves would rather point the finger at Brexit than accept their poor choices have been a disaster for our economy.”
