Oliver Dowden says the government should aim to save £24 billion a year by using tech tools. Photo: Simon Dawson/No. 10 Downing Street < p>Using unproven artificial intelligence is the only way to reduce the size of the civil service, insisted Oliver Dowden as he outlined plans to save billions of pounds using chatbots.
The Deputy Prime Minister admitted the use of artificial intelligence tools in the NHS and Whitehall was the only option for a «sustainable route to staff reduction» as the government seeks significant spending cuts to pay for tax cuts.
It comes after the Cabinet unveiled plans to cut staff numbers. spend £110 million on artificial intelligence tools and technical staff designed to speed up «dog work» in Whitehall, answer taxpayers' questions and improve the NHS.
Mr Dowden said: «I think this is the only way if we are to be on a sustainable path to downsizing.
“Remember how much the size of the civil service has increased as a result of the pandemic and the EU's preparedness to leave. We need to really embrace this idea to bring the numbers down.»
He said a recent report by think tank IPPR, which found the government could save £24 billion a year through the use of AI, was » such a goal that we should strive for.”
However, the use of new and, in some ways, untested technologies to cut costs has been criticized as a way to avoid making difficult decisions about the future of the state. Officials described the tools as «early pilot projects.»
John O'Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: «Ministers should not wait for technological innovation to deal with bloated bureaucracies, they must roll up sleeves and deal with it.”
The number of civil servants has risen sharply in recent years, rising by more than 100,000 since 2016 to 519,780 last year. Meanwhile, the number of people earning six-figure salaries has doubled.
Jeremy Hunt has ordered civil services to find ways to cut costs to pay for tax cuts, with the Chancellor expected to signal cuts to income tax or national insurance. in the budget for next week.
The government has said it could potentially introduce a gov.uk chatbot for voters to answer questions about paying taxes and applying for a passport, although the government admitted in January that a first attempt to do so had failed when it began speaking on -French.
< p>The Cabinet Office's AI incubator, which pays staff up to £135,000 and lures staff from top tech companies, will more than double in size from 30 to 70.
Mr Dowden said: “If you do these tasks better, you will have fewer civil servants doing administrative tasks that contribute to these things that should lead us to savings in both headcount and overall budget.»
He acknowledged that the government would have to take voters on a «cultural journey» to get people comfortable with AI tools, but compared the technology to the rise of the Internet, which also raised skeptics.
AI Incubator — This is working on this technology with companies such as OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
James Price, director of government relations at the Adam Smith Institute, said: “The Deputy Prime Minister is right to want to embrace the exciting opportunities that AI creates to deliver better government services and cuts to the civil service workforce.
“But civil service reform must go further if we are to cut Leviathan down to size. This must start with fundamental changes to the hiring and firing processes so that talented people outside the HR bureaucracy can bring their expertise to government.”
Klarna, a Swedish buy now pay later company, said this week its AI chatbot was doing the work of 700 employees answering customer service queries.
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