It's fantastic to be here, opening this sold-out event, and that was even before I was confirmed as a speaker.
It is one of the largest practical technical skills enhancement events ever organized by the government.
A historic event, and this is a historic moment in the history of humanity.
Because artificial intelligence is changing everything: the way we live and the way we work.
A big focus of the government has been on ensuring those technologies are secure.
Many of you took part in hosting the world's first AI Safety Summit, which took place at Bletchley Park earlier this month.
But in addition to the enormous risks posed by AI, there are also enormous opportunities, particularly for us in the public sector, to transform productivity.
As the Chancellor said at the weekend, some civil servants waste a full working day each week on administrative tasks.
I have worked in government for many years and know the frustrations.
He just wants to get on with his job, but it's not that easy.
Suffocated by systems.
Stuck by bureaucracy.
Urinated on by processes that haven't changed in decades.
No wonder, as Jim Hacker says in Yes Minister, โit takes time to [for the civil service] do things quicklyโ and โit is more expensive to do things cheap.โ
Well, all that can change... with the help of AI.
The potential productivity benefits from applying these technologies to routine tasks across the public sector are estimated to be worth billions.
The UK is already leading the way, ranking third in the government's AI readiness index and attracting ยฃ18 billion of private investment since 2016.
However, traditionally the public sector has not been the fastest adopter.
But with AI it doesn't have to be that way.
We have the big data.
We have a great workforce.
We have the brightest minds and keenest skills and a government that backs this 100 per cent, driven by our Prime Minister.
Many sectors are taking advantage of the opportunities and the benefits are felt throughout society.
90 percent of stroke units now use cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools.
Thousands of teachers have signed up for a pilot AI-powered lesson planner and quiz creator.
We will bring that spirit to Whitehall.
We have public officials upskilling through this One Big Thing initiative.
Earlier this month I announced that we were testing AI red boxes to reduce paperwork. An idea that came from an Evidence House hackathon that many of you in this room participated in.
And today I can reveal plans for a new turbocharged 'Incubator for AI' team.
Job adverts are published today, on our new website, ai.gov.uk, to boost this team to an initial 30 people: AI technical experts, program managers, product managers and engagement specialists, all working together to Rapidly improve AI adoption through a center of Excellence.
One of your first tasks will be to assess which government systems have data curated in the right way to take advantage of AI and which systems need to be updated before they can realize their full potential.
I think about the potential of this job, from correspondence to call management, from healthcare to social welfare.
I'm not talking about replacing real people with robots or adding to the frustrations of dealing with the government.
I mean eliminating the things that bother people most in their relationships with officials: that is, the time it takes to get things done quickly.
Let's imagine that the transformation from computer says no to computer says yes.
And we can all be part of that: we all deal with digital and data in one way or another.
So let us, the public administration, be the first to adopt it.
Let's be the pioneers.
Let Whitehall show the country โ and the world โ how it's done.
The revolution has just begun.
Thank you.
