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UK introduces AI assistant Humphrey to put AI to work


The United Kingdom government has announced ‘Humphrey’, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant designed to streamline day-to-day work of civil servants.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology says it wants to eliminate delays in public service through improved data sharing. “Data sharing across the public sector will be tackled in bid to stamp out nonsensical delays and save taxpayers billions,” the ministry says in a press release.

At the core of it all is Humphrey, a new package of AI tools that will be introduced to modernize tech and improve public services. Humphrey, named after a character in the 1980s TV series ‘Yes, Minister’, is meant to speed up the work of civil servants and reduce costs.

The AI ​​system consists of a number of specialized modules. The Consult tool can analyze and summarize thousands of consultation responses. Parlex searches parliamentary conversations for relevant policy information, while Minute acts as a secure transcription service for meetings. Redbox is for drafting policy documents, and Lex helps find legal information.

The UK government spends around £23 billion on technology every year. Humphrey was developed to significantly reduce these costs and improve productivity of civil servants. For example, the tax office receives 100,000 calls a day and citizens still have to be physically present to register a death in the family. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology estimates that automation could save £45 billion a year.

“Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money. Not to mention the headaches and stresses we’re left with after being put on hold or forced to take a trip to fill out a form. My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth,” Science Secretary Peter Kyle says in a statement.

The first applications are currently being tested on data from past consultations and is set to be made available to all civil servants soon.

Humphrey is part of a wider investment plan, in which the UK aims to become ‘world leader’ in AI. The goal is to forge AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals for data centers and AI infrastructure.

In addition, the government is planning to build a supercomputer, increasing the public computing capacity by twentyfold in 2030. Lastly, the government intends to create a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock public data and support AI development

“AI can transform the lives of working people. But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week about his Plan for Change.


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