Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support digital skills and technology investment to enable productivity improvements from AI.

The Secretary of State vowed this week to make Britain the fastest adopting AI country in the G7 and build a workforce that excels in developing, adopting and benefiting from AI.

We have committed £27m for the Government’s TechLocal scheme to connect at least 1,000 skilled people to tech jobs in local communities, create new academic courses integrating practical AI skills, and graduate traineeships and work experience.

Alongside this, thirteen additional private and public sector partners have signed on to join the AI Skills Boost, committing to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, with over 1 million AI upskilling courses having been delivered since last summer. We are also expanding Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme which will provide targeted support to businesses across the Industrial Strategy sectors, including through funding for tech investment.

These initiatives ensure we are facilitating the diffusion of AI across the whole of the UK by addressing the barriers to adoption faced by businesses and workers.