AI in UK Global Development

For a country that positions itself as a leader in AI innovation and a leader in global development, the UK government has shockingly failed to combine the two elements together in its recently released white paper.

The white paper which brings a lot of focus on the different areas within the development field such as digitisation and innovation, it does not surprisingly focus on how AI can help in these areas.

Furthermore, the white paper misses out on several key areas where AI could actually make a tangible difference.

These areas include:

• Poverty: AI-powered algorithms have the potential to analyse poverty data, allowing them to identify trends and patterns that can enable the UK government to create targeted poverty reduction programmes. Furthermore,  AI can help facilitate access to digital banking and financial services. 
• Climate change: AI can assist in the mitigation of the impacts of climate change through the use of tools that can help optimise energy consumption, develop renewable energy solutions and improve climate modelling and prediction. As a leader in AI development the UK government should expend itself in developing these tools to counter the greenhouse gas emissions that can be produced by AI.
• Enhance healthcare: AI can help revolutionise healthcare delivery through providing medical diagnoses, facilitating remove patient monitoring and supporting drug discovery and development. However, the UK government is rightly cautious around using AI as a sole tool for developing healthcare, given the risks inherent within the system. 
• Improve education: AI can personalise learning experiences, provide adaptive instruction, and automate tasks, making education more accessible and effective for all.

That the UK loves to position itself as a leader in AI and in the development field, and yet its flagship white paper did not in fact contain any mention of AI and how it can truly help development is shocking and a sign that perhaps the government is suffering from a lack of strategic vision.

How can this be changed? Well for starters they could set up a specialised AI for development unit within the government that could explore the challenges in the development world and how AI can either reduce or enhance them. This could then be expanded into low and medium income countries to help train and develop their AI potential.