UK PM says AI should soon replace civil servants

Date:
Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:16:05 +0000

Description:
Sir Kier Starmer believes that AI can do some Whitehall jobs better than
human workers.

FULL STORY ======================================================================
- UK PM is set to announce new digital reforms to the civil service
- AI could replace some workers in new digital 'mantra'
- New jobs will be created while cutting underperformers

UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has said that some civil servants could be replaced by AI as the PM is set to announce a new digital mantra.

The mantra states that No persons substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker, and to the same high quality
and standard.

In a speech to be given today, Starmer will announce that over 45 billion
could be saved by introducing new digital tools and reforms to Whitehall - before even introducing any AI to the service.

More tech to be introduced

The PM will also announce the creation of 2,000 tech apprenticeship
positions, and reductions in regulations and the involvement of some quangos
- quasi-non-governmental-organizations - which are typically government
funded bodies with some devolved power, which Starmer claims have created a cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery for working people.

Unions have voiced some skepticism about the Prime Ministers plans, with Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, stating, Civil servants are not hostile to reforms, but these must be undertaken in partnership with
staff and unions.

I urge everyone in government to avoid the incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States, and to be clear that reforms are about enhancing not undermining the civil service, Clancy continued.

Civil servants have faced years of productivity-related accusations. The
Prime Minister sent a letter to millions of civil servants earlier this week that said, Each one of you must be enabled to re-focus on your core purpose, away from the things that hamper your day to day work, delivering excellent, high-performing public services that improve people's lives.

The letter, pitched as part of the Prime Ministers plans to improve
performance while cutting staff numbers, continued, We know many of you feel shackled by bureaucracy, frustrated by inefficiency and unable to harness new technology. Your talent has been constrained for too long.

Via The Guardian

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/uk-pm-says-ai-should-soon-replace-civil-servants

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