Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment

Lord Clement-Jones Excerpts

Monday 13th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

Reducing the AI skills gap and understanding the impact of the labour market’s change due to AI is indeed something that we are looking at closely. DSIT regularly reviews the AI labour market and skills gap, and we are working with Skills England to fully understand the needs. I will need to update the noble Lord on the role of the regional centres he mentions after this session.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, the Government have cited their own Ipsos research that 84% of people at work have not undertaken any AI training in the past 12 months. The Government’s AI skills boost programme is welcome, but it is not enough. Will the Minister commit to personal learning accounts, giving individuals genuine choice over their upskilling, and to prioritising putting the creativity and critical reasoning at the heart of the national curriculum that AI cannot replicate?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that AI poses challenges and opportunities to those in the labour market. The AI skills boost programme that the Government have announced is extremely ambitious in its reach. It will see a major expansion to upskill 10 million workers, which is a huge endeavour and will see the UK fit to grab the opportunities of the AI technology that is coming today.