Once embattled opponents, Tony Blair and William Hague have joined forces to issue a stark warning on Britain’s AI shortcomings. Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

In a highly critical report, Tony Blair and William Hague have warned that AI could signify “the most substantial policy challenge ever faced” – and that Britain is unprepared for the fundamental disruptions the technology is predicted to unleash.

The pair called for the replacement of government advisers on the expert committee, AI Council, and at the Alan Turing Institute, a national data science organisation. Not only have these advisers “failed to anticipate the trajectory of progress”, but “the Alan Turing Institute has demonstrably not kept the UK at the cutting edge of international AI developments”, according to Blair and Hague.

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Despite running against each other in the UK’s 2001 general election, the former prime minister and former Conservative party leader have come together to co-author the report, titled ‘A New National Purpose: Innovation Can Power the Future of Britain’.

Overarchingly, it recommends an increase in AI funding “on the scale of HS2” – the UK government’s flagship railway project – to construct a “national lab” akin to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

Roughly one percent of the country’s research and development budget is invested in AI, according to the report. Hague told The Times Education Summit: “We might wonder in a few years whether it was right to spend £100bn on a new railway, and £1bn on a new supercomputer to help AI.” The UK has already faced criticism for allocating limited funding to AI in comparison to rival powers such as the US.

A blow for Sunak’s push towards AI leadership

These criticisms come after Rishi Sunak announced that the UK will host the first global AI summit later this year, as he strives to position Britain as a global leader in AI development and regulation.

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Sunak also commended the UK’s approach to AI innovation during the opening address of London Tech Week (June 12). In today’s discussions (June 13), Labour leader Keir Starmer promised a “regulatory framework” that would be “stronger” than the government’s approach.

Contrary to Sunak’s rhetoric, Blair and Hague believe the UK is at risk of becoming “irrelevant to the progress of potentially the most transformative technology in history”. Their report advises empowering the new AI Taskforce, modelled on the Covid-19 Vaccine Taskforce, to report directly to the prime minister.

Amid a turbulent string of events in the global race to regulate AI, this unit intends to drive innovation while mitigating political disinformation, widespread job losses and existential risk.