There is a pressing need for Northern Ireland to adopt an Artificial Intelligence strategy to avoid missing out on the momentum that is ramping up in this area.
AI is rapidly gaining policy traction and we must be adequately prepared to fully capitalise on related opportunities. Within the last few weeks, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an AI Opportunities Action Plan for the UK and the US declared collaboration between Open AI, Softbank and Oracle on a $500bn AI infrastructure initiative.
Unlike NI, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and UK have had AI strategies in place since 2021 and, in Wales, AI is encompassed within a wider digital strategy - many of these have since been refreshed.
The creation of the joint Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC) by UU and QUB marked a major commitment, with significant investment from the Department for the Economy via Invest NI. The Department for the Economy has also launched a Digital Skills Action Plan and the Department of Finance has provided guidance on the use of AI within the public sector. Notably, a significant number of the proposals put forward by NI departments to the Transformation Fund are digital in nature.
However, a comprehensive local AI strategy is required to capture cross-cutting issues, such as pre-emptive skills and infrastructure interventions, plans for addressing energy demands, planning constraints and ethical implications.
AI offers much potential in terms of driving improved efficiency, innovation and productivity across the public and private sectors, with associated socio-economic implications. The UK Government argues that significant AI adoption could enable a boost to annual growth of 1.5% per annum and £47bn in economic gain.
Of course, any potential benefits must be balanced against associated ethical concerns regarding monopolistic practices within big tech, displacement of human capital, plus other data security and privacy issues. Public trust is a precious commodity and has been eroded in other contexts in recent years. An open and collaborative approach to AI will be vital in safeguarding against further erosion of trust.
Nonetheless, the utilisation of AI is a technological reality. If harnessed in a responsible manner, it could be transformative in addressing the shifting risk landscape. Emerging policy challenges are increasingly global in nature, such as climate, immigration and other geo-political risks and thus arguably transcend conventional solutions and decision making. Collaborative and innovative solutions are required, at a global level.
Within the NI context, AI could be particularly transformative given our underlying productivity challenge and disproportionate problems facing public services locally. The scope for automation, improved speed, accuracy and technological advancements implies much promise for public services, not to mention requisite efficiency savings. Utilisation of AI is therefore central to the public service transformation agenda.
Furthermore, as a relatively small region with a skilled, diverse IT labour force bridging different regulatory zones, NI has the potential to be a leader in AI and reap associated economic benefits. Given the scalable nature of AI, cross-border collaboration could also be considered to maximise any such opportunity.
A local strategy should seek to capture these benefits whilst identifying emerging challenges. We need a fuller understanding of data centre requirements, ranging from potential re-purposing of existing capacity to development of new infrastructure.
Equally, consideration should be given to water, energy and planning requirements and how current challenges in those respects may hinder developments. The heavy demand on water and energy may run contrary to climate objectives. Alternatively, there may be opportunities associated with the extensive heat generated by AI data centres.
In terms of employment impacts, it is undoubtedly the case that there will be a changing composition in skills and labour requirements as a result of AI. We should have a pre-emptive approach to rebalancing any emerging asymmetry in skills and employment prospects. Upskilling and reskilling will likely need to feature heavily for NI to remain competitive and safeguard employment opportunities.
NI’s track record in FinTech and other emerging technologies demonstrates our capacity to excel when collaboration with academia and industry is effective – fully preparing for and embracing AI might just propel us to the next level.
Jodie Carson is a Professor of Strategic Policy in Practice at Ulster University.
