Labour’s AI Fellowship will see experts using open source AI tools to deliver better public services for less money
To build technology for public services, the government has announced a $1m fellowship, backed by Meta, and the Alan Turing Institute.
During the 12-month secondment, fellows will use open-source artificial intelligence (AI), such as Meta’s Llama 3.0, to create new tools for Labour’s Plan for Change.
“Open-source AI models are helping researchers, developers, and doctors make major medical and scientific breakthroughs. They also have the potential transform the delivery of government services,” said Joel Kaplan. “We hope that these fellows can make a positive impact and show how valuable open-source AI can be for governments and society in general.”
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology says that rolling out open-source AI models could reduce costs for taxpayers, improve speed and consistency, and provide value for money.
Jean Innes of the Alan Turing Institute said that open source technologies could help the government improve productivity, support decisions and deliver better services. Innes said that these fellowships would be a new way to match AI experts and the real-world problems facing our public services.
The AI experts will focus on high-security AI use cases across the public sector. For example, language translation within a national security context. DSIT said that they could also work to expand Humphrey, a bundle of AI tools which helps civil servants better deliver on ministers’ requests, in order to remove the administrative burden of summarising documents and taking notes, as well as summarising responses from consultations.
Labour has recently begun rolling out AI Caddy, a customer service assistant that helps staff to access expert guidance regarding grant decisions.
Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, recently stated that he was “determined” to seize the opportunity AI offers to transform the state. He made it clear that no government official should do anything AI can do cheaper and better.
Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, described the fellowship as the “best of AI in action”stating that it was “open and practical” and “built for the public good”.
Kyle added: “It is about delivery, not ideas – creating tools that help the government work better for the people.”
This fellowship coincides with news that Caddy was open sourced. Call centres around the world can now benefit from this tech. It is currently being used in six Citizens Advice call centers and has been trained to assist experts answer questions on everything from managing your debt to getting legal assistance and knowing your consumer rights.
DSIT reported that early test results showed 80% of Caddy’s generated responses were ready for use without revisions. Advisors using Caddy also felt twice as confident about providing accurate answers. “We’ve seen the potential.” Kyle said that Caddy, developed with Citizens Advice to help Cabinet Office teams, shows how open AI can boost productivity and improve decision-making while supporting frontline staff.
In addition to the fellowship grant, government has also expanded the AI Knowledge Hub in order to help government departments understand how other departments are deploying AI. In its next phase, the government will add new features, including a Prompt library, to help teams use AI for everyday productivity and to deliver faster, better service.
