A week after the UK government announced a sweeping plan to make large investments in AI, it lays out more details on how it can be shaped in the public sector. On the agenda: AI assistants to speed up public services; data sharing deals with siled departments; and a new set of AI tools – called “Humphrey” after a character in an old UK TV political sitcom – to make the work of civil servants easier.

The plans will be formally unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday led by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), along with two other departments, Work and Pensions and Health/Social Care.

If you navigate to The UK government’s AI site to check the progress of some projects, you will see that most of the efforts so far seem to be in very early stages, even in limited tests or a test phase; others are still nascent. For example, a plan to bring more AI services to the customer-facing side of the NHS is only at stage one “charter” commitment to the concept.

Others include links to Github repositories to check out some of the work so far. It is not clear how many people in total are working on these projects, or what third-party tools (such as LLMs) are being used. (We’re asking these questions and will update if we learn more.)

At their heart, projects are about efficiency. The government, said DSIT, currently spends £23 billion a year on technology, and the idea is to redeploy that money in a more modern way.

“Slow technology has hindered our public services for a long time, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money… Not to mention the headaches and stress we’re left with after it’s stopped or forced to travel to fill out a form,” said Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for DSIT, in a statement. “My Department will put AI to work… We will use technology to bring to life the seamless approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves.”

The plans include a new team within DSIT to lead the projects, a bit like DOGE in the US but conceived and run by government people rather than tech moguls.

DSIT focuses on three areas initially:

1. The work of government employees. Humphrey, named after cunning, clever assistant played by the late Nigel Hawthorne in “Yes, Minister” and then “Yes, Prime Minister,” a set of apps aimed at reducing the average day-to-day work of civil servants, especially around the many data they need to read. and process as part of their work.

“Consultation” is designed to read and summarize “thousands” of responses to consultations in hours (responses, which can be long and numerous, are a central part of how the government considers feedback from stakeholders and the public). “Parlex” will allow them to ask questions and read conversations in Parliament related to bills or other policy documents they are working on. “Minute” is a secure transcription service to take notes from their many hours of meetings. “Redbox” helps them prepare briefings and policy documents. And “Lex” allows them to consult relevant legal data.

2. Another strand of the drive for efficiency is the acceleration of public-facing services. The idea here is to focus on legacy bureaucracy, of which there is a lot in the UK, such as the 100,000 calls the tax authorities get every day, or the need for people to appear in person to register a death, or (weird ) posting ads in local papers as part of the process of getting a truck driver’s license.

DSIT’s thinking is that overhauling processes like this with more AI-powered automation could save £45 billion every year. (It’s not clear if that estimate is before or after reducing the cost of building and running AI services.)

3. The last part will focus on more collaboration between departments to help share data to facilitate how services are obtained, and how they work.

Together, the various projects are a signal that the government seems to mean business in their new AI push. But they also raise many questions.

For example, in the case of data sharing, the DSIT currently states that the idea of ​​running here would be “a common understanding method of information sharing.” Central government departments, such as HMRC (revenue and customs) and the Department for Business and Trade, may for example share data with each other and with local councils in fraud investigations, or to better understand whether how businesses work and what programs can help them. But what happens to data protection for individuals when data is shared in ways you don’t want it to be?

Another possible question is around Humphrey: now, the DSIT says that some of the first apps are in the test stages, but the big question is, how far can the government trust to some AI conclusions?

There are also many human challenges. As a former civil servant (who now works for an AI company) notespast efforts to create programs that cut across departments have not always worked. Collaboration, money and authority are ultimately the levers that can make or break any of these plans.