AI can help guide the UK to a greener and more prosperous future – but to take advantage of this opportunity, Britain must build up its skillbase, invest in its infrastructure, and make AI more energy efficient.
This week, heads of government, AI pioneers and academics are gathering at Bletchley Park for the UK’s AI Safety Summit. They are focusing on ‘Frontier AI’ models, which have huge potential to drive economic growth, scientific progress, and provide societal benefits.
One of the goals at this summit is to showcase how the safe development of AI will enable it to be used for good around the world. The highest good AI can do is to help with the defining challenge of our time: to tackle climate change and save our planet.
AI can speed up the pace of renewable energy research and innovation. I have long said that this is one of the key areas Britain should be investing in.
The UK can and should be the world leader in renewable energy. This would make energy cheaper in Britain, and it would also reduce our dependence on unfriendly suppliers of oil and gas.
To make good on this AI-led green opportunity, Britain must be prepared
AI can make it easier to hit our net zero goals in other ways too. It can help optimise energy use and improve efficiency by analysing energy consumption patterns in homes and businesses, such as through AI smart thermostats. This would reduce burden on the energy grid as it would allow us to more efficiently store energy produced from solar panels and wind turbines and use it at other times.
But to make good on this AI-led green opportunity, Britain must be prepared.
The UK needs a proper apprenticeship scheme that helps young people develop their skills and builds up Britain’s skillbase in emerging areas of science and technology. Young people must be given the best possible start, through apprenticeships and technical education, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI and other areas of emerging technology.
And the UK needs infrastructure investment, such as in rail and fibre-optics so that our research and innovation ecosystem is properly connected, and that our businesses and researchers can collaborate properly and be competitive internationally.
At the moment, it’s estimated that, by 2027, the AI industry could use as much energy as is required to power a country the size of the Netherlands. If AI is key to the climate change solution, we need to work on reducing its own carbon footprint by improving the energy efficiency of AI computation.
To help Britain take advantage of the opportunity before us, I am supporting a new initiative, Caudwell Strong Britain, at the Council on Geostrategy. This initiative will help policymakers understand how the UK can build a more competitive and resilient science and technology base, and in so doing, unlock Britain’s potential for enhanced prosperity and security, and protect our planet for the future.
