The former PM says humanity is entering its biggest transformation since the Industrial Revolution and that it’s ‘absurd’ not to do more in the NHS
Britain should embrace a future of AI doctors, nurses and even teachers or risk being left behind in the biggest upheaval since the Industrial Revolution, Sir Tony Blair has said.
The former prime minister said that fears over artificial intelligence should be outweighed by the “absolutely transformative” impact it could have on public services by saving time and cutting costs.
“When I stand back and I look at what [AI] is doing, I think we’re in the foothills of the most transformative revolution since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century,” he told the SXSW London festival.
“Government’s all about process, so you could use AI to speed up the process of the government, making sure that we do, for example, all the routine jobs of government much more efficiently. You could be responding to people in a much more sensitive, faster, better, more efficient way.
“If, for example, you’re able to merge data sets across departments, you’re going to save money. You’re going to analyse, based on health data, in a way that allows you to make better health policy. And then, when you look in public services, you should be able to personalise education in the future.
“You could have AI tutors, you should have AI nurses, AI doctors. We are already doing a lot of imaging much, much better through using artificial intelligence. It will make [government] much smaller, more efficient, cost less and give a better service to the customer.”
The country cannot afford to be squeamish about the power of this emerging technology, said Blair, adding: “It’s absurd we haven’t yet put all of our NHS data there available to be used for innovation.”
Full article: Tony Blair: Britain should have AI doctors and nurses
