Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology

Watch out, hallucinating Humphrey’s about in Whitehall

A street sign giving directions to Parliament Street and Whitehall in London
Liberal Democrat Sue Miller says the government’s rollout of its AI tool, Humphrey, will give the slogan from a 1970s milk marketing campaign a whole new meaning. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

I doubt that government officials consulted their AI tool, Humphrey, on what it should be called (UK government rollout of Humphrey AI tool raises fears about reliance on big tech, 15 June). It could have advised that in the 1970s the name was used for a milk marketing campaign: “Watch out, there’s a Humphrey about.” That line will now have a whole new meaning. Having spent the last few weeks voting in the Lords to try, in vain, to achieve protections for the creative industries from AI abuse, that meaning might be prophetic. On a personal level, my husband is angry that his name is being stolen again.
Sue Miller
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

• Your report (The ‘death of creativity’? AI job fears stalk advertising industry, 9 June) quotes the chief executive of a big ad agency saying “AI will disintermediate a large number of jobs”. I asked an AI tool to put this into plain English. Ten minutes later, it’s still thinking about it. Perhaps absurd management euphemisms is one area where the human brain can still cut through the crap more effectively than AI?
Neil Cole
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.