UK PM Keir Starmer pledges AI tools in schools, says technology ‘makes us more human'
UK PM Keir Starmer pledges AI learning tools for schools, calling AI 'hugely transformative' for Britain. Speaking at London Tech Week, he emphasised AI's role in health, defence, and government. Starmer urged all departments to integrate AI into how government functions, aiming to make public services smarter and more efficient. He believes AI can enhance human potential, not replace it saying it 'makes us more human' in how we work and govern.
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Just like humans get their information from observing, reading, listening and other sources, AI systems utilise vast amounts of data, including text, images, sounds, numbers and more. What are large language models (LLMs) and how are they trained? As mentioned above, AI systems need to learn and for that, they utilise Large Language Models, or LLMs. They are highly advanced AI programmes specifically designed to understand, generate and interact with human language. Think of them as incredibly knowledgeable digital brains that specialise in certain fields. LLMs are trained on enormous amounts of text data – billions and even trillions of words from books, articles, websites, conversations and more. This vast exposure allows them to learn the nuances of human language like grammar, context, facts and even different writing styles. For example, an LLM is like a teacher that has a vast amount of knowledge and understands complex questions as well as can reason through them to provide relevant answers. The teacher provides the core knowledge and framework. Chatbots then utilise this "teacher" (the LLM) to interact with users. The chatbot is the "student" or "interface" that applies the teacher's lessons. This means AI is really good at specific tasks, like playing chess or giving directions, but it can't do other things beyond its programmed scope. How is AI helpful for people? AI is getting deeply integrated into our daily lives, making things easier, faster and smarter. For example, it can be used in powering voice assistants that can answer questions in seconds, or in healthcare where doctors can ask AI to analyse medical images (like X-rays for early disease detection) in seconds and help patients in a more effective manner, or help in drug discovery. It aims to make people efficient by allowing them to delegate some work to AI and helping them in focusing on major problems. What is Agentic AI? At its core, Agentic AI focuses on creating AI agents – intelligent software programmes that can gather information, process it for reasoning, execute the ideas by taking decisions and even learn and adapt by evaluating their outcomes. For example, a chatbot is a script: "If a customer asks X, reply Y." A Generative AI (LLM) is like a brilliant essay writer: "Give it a topic, and it'll write an essay." Agentic AI is like a project manager: "My goal is to plan and execute a marketing campaign." It can then break down the goal, generate ideas, write emails, schedule meetings, analyse data and adjust its plan – all with minimal human oversight – Just like JARVIS in Iron Man and Avengers movies. What is AGI? AGI is a hypothetical form of AI that possesses the ability to understand, learn and apply knowledge across a wide range of intellectual tasks at a level comparable to, or surpassing, that of a human being. Think of AGI as a brilliant human polymath – someone who can master any subject, solve any problem and adapt to any challenge across various fields. While AI agents are created to take up specific tasks in which they learn and execute, AGI will be like a ' Super AI Agent ' that virtually has all the information there is in this world and can solve problems on any subject. Will AI take away our jobs and what people can do? There is a straightforward answer by various tech CEOs and executives across the industry: Yes. AI will take away repetitive, predictable tasks and extensive data processing, such as data entry, routine customer service, assembly line operations, basic accounting and certain analytical roles. While this means some existing positions may be displaced, AI will more broadly transform roles, augmenting human capabilities and shifting the focus towards tasks requiring creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and strategic oversight. For example, AI/Machine Learning Engineers, Data Scientists , Prompt Engineers and more. The last such revolution came with the internet and computers which did eat some jobs but created so many more roles for people. They can skill themselves by enrolling in new AI-centric courses to learn more about the booming technology to be better placed in the future. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
