Latest news with #PeterKyle
Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Times
AI could free 30,000 civil servants from routine admin, study finds
Nearly 30,000 civil servants could be freed from carrying out routine admin every year if AI is rolled out across Whitehall, a government study has suggested. More than 20,000 civil servants across Whitehall took part in a three-month trial to use generative AI for help with tasks such as drafting documents, summarising meetings, and handling emails. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said this saved the equivalent of giving 1,130 full-time workers out of the 20,000 a full year back every year. Extrapolated across the whole civil service workforce of 514,395 people, the trial suggests 29,063 could be freed up for other work using AI. It comes as a study from the Alan Turing Institute found AI could support up to 41 per cent of tasks across the public sector. The artificial intelligence institute found that teachers spend nearly 100 minutes a day on lesson planning but up to 75 per cent of this could be supported by AI, while civil servants spend about 30 minutes daily on emails, where it is believed AI could cut this effort by more than 70 per cent. Civil servants in the government trial used AI to cut through jargon and streamline consultations, while work coaches utilised it to speed up support for jobseekers. They used tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot to assist with drafting documents, summarising lengthy emails, updating records, and preparing reports. Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, will highlight the results alongside Sir Tony Blair at the SXSW London festival on Monday. The two will discuss reimagining government and public service delivery in the age of AI. Last month, a separate government trial found AI is more impartial than civil servants in analysing responses to new policies and consultations. A new AI tool to sort responses to public consultations found that about 75,000 days of work could be saved, while civil servants themselves said it removed opportunities for them to 'project their own preconceived ideas' into processes and 'takes away the bias and makes it more consistent'. • Consult, the new tool that will be used across government, is part of Humphrey — a bundle of AI tools being used across Whitehall and named after Sir Humphrey Appleby, the fictional permanent secretary in Yes Minister. The tool categorises responses under broad headings and assigns them based on whether they agree or disagree with proposals or if they are unclear. At present this is done manually by civil servants who comb through about 500 consultations a year, with responses in the thousands. The tool will also help with the increasing number of template responses to consultations organised by campaign groups. However officials also said there was a rise in the number of campaigning organisations that encouraged people to use AI to write consultation responses, which could lead to a situation where AI is analysing responses written using trial of Consult was used to analyse responses to a Scottish government consultation on cosmetic procedures. Testers found that the majority of the time the AI agreed with what a human reviewer would have said. Officials who worked with Consult on the test said they were 'pleasantly surprised' that AI analysis provided a 'useful starting point' in its initial analysis, with others noting that it ultimately 'saved [them] a heck of a lot of time' and allowed them to 'get to the analysis and draw out what's needed next'. Kyle said: 'These findings show that AI isn't just a future promise — it's a present reality. Whether it's helping draft documents, preparing lesson plans or cutting down on routine admin, AI tools are saving civil servants time every day. That means we can focus more on delivering faster, more personalised support where it really counts.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ministers to kick off hunt for successor to Ofcom chair Lord Grade
Ministers are to kick off the hunt for a new chair of the communications regulator as Lord Grade of Yarmouth prepares to bow out after a single term at the helm. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) - which now leads oversight of Ofcom in Whitehall - is drawing up proposals to launch a recruitment process in the coming months. Lord Grade, the veteran broadcast executive who held senior posts at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has served as Ofcom chair since May 2022. His four-year term is not due to end for another 11 months, and there was no suggestion this weekend that he would leave the role ahead of that point. Insiders said, however, that there was little prospect of him seeking to be reappointed for a second term in the job. The now non-affiliated peer's appointment to the post in 2022 came after a controversial recruitment process and was signed off by Nadine Dorries, the then Tory culture secretary. Responsibility for Ofcom board appointments has switched since then from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Peter Kyle, the science secretary, authorised the recruitment of Tamara Ingram, an advertising industry stalwart, as Ofcom's deputy chair, last November. Ofcom takes on online harms The search for a new Ofcom chair will come after a significant extension of its remit to encompass areas such as online harms. Both DCMS, which has responsibility for the media industry, and the Department for Business and Trade also have substantial engagement with Ofcom. As well as a role in appointing directors to the board of state-owned Channel 4, which is hunting both a chair and chief executive, Ofcom regulates companies such as Royal Mail, as well as the BBC. This week, the watchdog said it was pursuing action against the formerly publicly owned postal services company over its failure to hit statutory delivery targets. Ofcom also regulates the UK telecoms industry, making it one of the largest economic regulators in Britain. Data centres may be next The body may also be handed regulatory oversight of the fast-growing data centre industry. One of the tasks of Lord Grade's successor is likely to be long-term executive leadership succession planning. Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, has held the role since 2020, although there is no indication that she intends to step down in the short term. It was unclear this weekend whether any of Ofcom's existing board members might seek to take over from Lord Grade. Its slate of non-executive directors includes recently appointed Lord Allan of Hallam, a former MP, and Ben Verwaayen, the former BT Group chief executive. Mr Verwaayen is due to step down from the Ofcom board at the end of the year. The hunt for Ofcom's next chair will come amid a push led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to shake up Britain's economic regulators as they seek ways to remove red tape from the private sector. DSIT has been contacted for comment, while Ofcom declined to comment.
Sky News
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
Ministers to kick off hunt for successor to Ofcom chair Lord Grade
Ministers are to kick off the hunt for a new chair of the communications regulator as Lord Grade of Yarmouth prepares to bow out after a single term at the helm. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) - which now leads oversight of Ofcom in Whitehall - is drawing up proposals to launch a recruitment process in the coming months. Lord Grade, the veteran broadcast executive who held senior posts at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has served as Ofcom chair since May 2022. His four-year term is not due to end for another 11 months, and there was no suggestion this weekend that he would leave the role ahead of that point. Insiders said, however, that there was little prospect of him seeking to be reappointed for a second term in the job. The now non-affiliated peer's appointment to the post in 2022 came after a controversial recruitment process and was signed off by Nadine Dorries, the then Tory culture secretary. Peter Kyle, the science secretary, authorised the recruitment of Tamara Ingram, an advertising industry stalwart, as Ofcom's deputy chair, last November. 1:11 The search for a new Ofcom chair will come after a significant extension of its remit to encompass areas such as online harms. Both DCMS, which has responsibility for the media industry, and the Department for Business and Trade also have substantial engagement with Ofcom. As well as a role in appointing directors to the board of state-owned Channel 4, which is hunting both a chair and chief executive, Ofcom regulates companies such as Royal Mail, as well as the BBC. This week, the watchdog said it was pursuing action against the formerly publicly owned postal services company over its failure to hit statutory delivery targets. Ofcom also regulates the UK telecoms industry, making it one of the largest economic regulators in Britain. Mr Kyle said this week that Ofcom should also prepare to be given regulatory oversight of the fast-growing data centre industry. One of the tasks of Lord Grade's successor is likely to be long-term executive leadership succession planning. Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, has held the role since 2020, although there is no indication that she intends to step down in the short term. It was unclear this weekend whether any of Ofcom's existing board members might seek to take over from Lord Grade. Its slate of non-executive directors includes recently appointed Lord Allan of Hallam, a former MP, and Ben Verwaayen, the former BT Group chief executive. Mr Verwaayen is due to step down from the Ofcom board at the end of the year. The hunt for Ofcom's next chair will come amid a push led by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to shake up Britain's economic regulators as they seek ways to remove red tape from the private sector.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
ALEX BRUMMER: Britain's copyright betrayal by Labour
Missing so far from Keir Starmer's trade deals is any attempt to shield Britain's intellectual property. Gifted British musicians nursed the hope that vengeful rules regarding visas, work permits and the movement of goods in Europe that have complicated their lives might have been lifted. Elton John rightly is outraged that the Government is prepared to abandon Britain's creative sector to encourage big tech AI investment. He describes the Government as 'absolute losers' and argues it is a 'criminal offence' to let Silicon Valley use copyright-protected work without permission. Britain is a pioneer in the use of copyright to protect creators with laws which date back to the early 18th century. But Starmer and his Technology Secretary Peter Kyle seem determined to override that heritage. As originally previewed, before 'Liberation Day' on April 2, a tech deal – which allowed Google, Facebook-owner Meta and Apple freedom to harvest UK creativity – was expected to be at the heart of a UK-US pact. In exchange for AI being allowed to roam freely on this side of the pond, big tech would step up inward investment. Intellectual property, Britain's up-and-coming artistes and creators and established powerhouses such as Elton and JK Rowling would be sacrificed. Essentially, a craven Labour government, desperate to find some levers to drive growth, was adopting a Trumpian agenda. In Washington last month, I dined with old friend Shira Perlmutter, a distinguished legal academic, who headed the US Copyright Office – an agency responsible to Congress. Her branch has been commissioned by the White House to produce a report on AI. There was a veiled indication that if the administration disagreed with the independent findings, funding for the Copyright Office could be reduced. A draft report found that the use of large language models for 'research and analysis' using copyright material for training purposes was permissible. But when AI is trained on copyrighted journalism, artworks, books and other original material – to generate a product to sell – that likely breached fair use protections, it found. That is – in legalese – much the same case that Elton is making in Britain. Soon after the draft report appeared, Perlmutter received an email from the White House. She had been dismissed from her post with no due process. Democratic Senators Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer described the firing as 'unlawful' because Congress had shielded the US Copyright Office from politics. This treatment of one of the most respected guardians of copyright law must be regarded as unacceptable in a democracy. But Trump and his acolytes willingly trample on constitutional values in support of their own ends. What big tech wants it gets. The power of lobbying by Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and the other Silicon Valley tech bros has no boundaries. Cook was swiftly able to exclude mobile devices from punitive Trump tariffs imposed on China. AI is big tech's new frontier and anything or anyone who gets in its way receives the White House hairdryer treatment and worse. Of course, the UK must rub along with the US. Jaguar Land Rover might have faced near extinction had not Peter Mandelson, on behalf of Labour, secured a tariff reduction deal. Labour's willingness to accede to the Trump copyright agenda, destroying four centuries of copyright at a stroke, is indefensible.
South Wales Guardian
22-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Proposals to protect creatives' copyright from AI rejected by MPs
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle pledged to set up a series of expert working groups to find a 'workable way forward' for both industries, as he urged MPs to reject the Lords' amendment. Peers attempted to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill by adding a commitment to introduce transparency requirements, aiming to ensure copyright holders are able to see when their work has been used and by who. MPs voted 195 to 124, majority 71, to disagree with Baroness Beeban Kidron's transparency amendment, in a bid to end the so-called ping-pong. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Kyle said: 'Pitting one against the other is unnecessarily divisive and damages both. 'The truth is that growing Britain's economy needs both sectors to succeed and to prosper. Britain has to be the place where the creative industries, and every bit as much as AI companies, can invest, grow, are confident in their future prosperity, that is assured. 'We have to become a country where our people can enjoy the benefits and the opportunities of both.' He added: 'It is time to tone down the unnecessary rhetoric and instead, recognise that the country needs to strike a balance between content and creativity, transparency and training, and recognition and reward. 'That can't be done by well-meaning, but ultimately imperfect amendments to a Bill that was never intended to do such a thing. 'The issue of AI copyright needs properly considered and enforceable legislation, drafted with the inclusion, the involvement, and the experience of both creatives and technologists. 'To that end, I can tell the House that I am now setting up a series of expert working groups to bring together people from both sectors, on transparency, on licensing and other technical standards to chart a workable way forward.' Intervening, Labour MP James Naish said many of his constituents in Rushcliffe feel 'AI development has already trampled over their rights', adding: 'This is a time-limited issue and action is required.' Mr Kyle said it is 'the truth that so much content has already been used and subsumed by AI models, usually from other territories and also under the current law'. Chairwoman of the culture, media and sport committee Dame Caroline Dinenage said: 'What rights holders need is what this amendment says – clear, relevant, accurate and accessible information about the use of their copyright works and the means by which they're assessed. 'That's exactly what it says here, a legislative vehicle in the future, however welcome, is going to be simply too late to protect the livelihoods of so many of the UK's 2.5 million creative workers.' The Conservative MP for Gosport added: 'Is the Government really committed to proactively enforcing our copyright and if not through this Bill and now, how and when?' Mr Kyle replied: 'We need to make sure that we can have a domestic legal system that is fit for the digital age.' He added that he wanted to 'give the certainty in words, but also, most importantly, to give the certainty in legislation in the most rapid fashion possible, so that creatives and the AI sector can move forward together'. Conservative MP Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) said: 'He talks about delivering certainty, but does he not see that the certainty he is giving is to large, multinational tech companies to get away with scraping original content that is copyrighted. 'But he is going to give them the certainty through this Bill to abuse the rights of creatives.' Mr Kyle replied: 'I am confused by his intervention. The Bill before us does not mention AI, it does not mention copyright, it has nothing to do with any of those items.' SNP MP Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) accused the Government of offering creators 'nothing', adding: 'I've looked at this amendment the Lords presented, it seems a reasonable amendment, what is wrong with it as a way forward?' Mr Kyle said: 'It is my belief, and it is this Government's belief, that there is a better way forward to give the protections that creative sectors and creators need, and that will deliver them the certainties, protections and the ability to see transparency.' 'We need to take these issues in the round, not one part of it,' he added. Mr Kyle continued: 'Much of the creative content on the internet has already been scraped elsewhere in the world. We cannot turn back time nor should we kid ourselves that we can exercise extraterritorial reach that we simply do not have. 'My determination is to get this absolutely right, not just rush it right now to make ourselves feel better but make no real improvements to the status quo. So let me be absolutely clear to the House – I get it and I will get it right.' Shadow technology minister Ben Spencer said he welcomed the 'huge benefits' which the Bill would have on the economy and public services, but added: 'I fear this Bill will go down in the Government's record as the Bill of missed opportunities. 'A missed opportunity to fix our flawed public datasets which present a barrier to tracking and tackling inequalities in areas such as women's health, a missed opportunity to commit to a review of protections for children and their use of social media platforms, and to commit to taking action to increase those protections where the evidence shows there's good reason. 'And a missed opportunity to provide much-needed certainty to two of our key growth industries – the creative and AI sectors – over how they can interact to promote their mutual growth and flourishing.'
