Productivity

(asked on 10th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to productivity of increased (a) use of artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning.


Answered by
 Portrait
Claire Perry
This question was answered on 15th November 2017

The earliest adopters of new technologies can gain a first-mover advantage, allowing them to reap rewards in terms of additional jobs and increased revenue.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are distinct technologies. ‘AI’ describes where computers are able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, decision-making and translation between languages; ‘machine learning’ comprises deeper learning where computers are able o learn without external programming, building on algorithms that can make predictions using data. However, for the purposes of identifying support for and development in the sector, it is useful to treat them as a group.

Government welcomes the independent review of Artificial Intelligence, “Growing the Artificial Intelligence Industry in the UK”, published on 15 October. The report highlights how AI can boost UK productivity, and has the potential to add £630 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

The Industrial Strategy Green Paper, published in January, also identified AI as a major, high-potential opportunity for the UK to build a word-leading future sector of our economy.

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