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Alongside its big public push for AI investments , the U.K. government is also playing a virtual board to sling itself into the 21st century . Today it announced plans to launch a strong digital wallet to contend governing - issued credentials , alongside a chatbot — built - in collaboration with OpenAI — to interact with the mainGOV.UKportal . Today , it dubbed the chatbot “ chat - uk ” and say it will be a part of a wider portal and app .
The first two card it plans to add to its notecase will be a virtual driver ’s licence and a virtual veteran card for multitude who have served in the military . It plan to launch the Robert William Service later this year , it said in a press group discussion today . The GOV.UK portal site will be on-line in 2025 , but it has already started testing the chat serve , and it ’s also already open up for ordinary users to test it , said Peter Kyle , the U.K. ’s Secretary of State for technology — even if some of the responses seemed a fiddling odd .
“ It is really important the public set out to understand that increasingly , in an online world , and government is actuate to an online world , that we will interact at an earlier stage so that we can practice the power , the insight , and the volume of interaction that the public can supply in examination , ” Kyle said in a pressure league today in London . “ So yes , the chat organization did start speak French midway through a testing series , but it was a mistake we learned from . ”
The developments come at a crossroads for AI advances .
On one hand , the Labour government hasdoubled down on the thought of work up out an AI economyin the commonwealth — partnerships with private AI companies to empower more in their operation here , more infrastructure such as information centers and a supercomputer to corroborate AI service , and a big dedication from the government to invest in AI service itself . First up , today it unveiled a raft of new AI instrument , all still in ontogeny : a multi - functional AI assistant for government employee called “ Humphrey ” ; a push button to work up more consumer - face AI pecker ; and more data sharing between government department to help them build and run AI services .
On the other hand , there stay many questions about how AI services will work in the twelvemonth onward . It was only a year ago that the U.K. took a leading theatrical role in a broad ball-shaped conversation about AI refuge : how the Modern wave of service being built by companies like OpenAI , Anthropic , Mistral , and many others will impact job , substance abuser privacy and data shelter , right of first publication , and how AI might get misused for villainous purpose such as to create misinformation , in economic aid of malicious hacking , and more .
Today , Kyle claim that in its testing of its novel chatbot , there “ has n’t been a single instance ” of the chatbot yet being “ jailbroken ” or hark back fictitious information in its “ heavy ” testing so far .
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A push for more digital armed service in the U.K. comes at the same time as the U.S. is doubling down on the role technical school will be playing in that body politic . Yesterday , President Trump , on his first Clarence Day in office , made official his fresh governance “ efficiency ” drive , dubbed DOGE and led by technology enterpriser Elon Musk . Trump also countermand an executive order from his predecessor President Joe Biden that sought to reduce AI risks to politics , consumers , and concern . That means that setting up and running safety tests around AI systems are no longer want .
The government said that its newGOV.UKWallet allows user to firmly store government - issued documents on their phone and expend them easily when call for , it tell . This could be more convenient when , say , you are on the move , and you require to only have a phone and no strong-arm wallet .
The digital driving licence , Kyle allege today , will also be used to improve on-line and offline safety . In one exercise , he described how digital Idaho could be used to provide age check for sure on-line services , which has been problematic to secure to particular date . Notably , the U.K. is not on the button out front of the game here . France has been offer adigital identicalness appsince 2022 .
“ The technology will make function of security features that are built into modern smartphones , including facial recognition verification similar to those used when hoi polloi pay using a digital bank circuit board , ” it say . “ It means that digital written document will be more secure , even if a equipment is lost . ”
There are no plans to make its digital wallet or other digital services required , Kyle tot up , but he said they are working on the “ compelling ” and “ worthy ” nature of the service to get people to utilise them .
“ Why ca n’t we draw a bead on to have a satisfactory experience where people engage at the minute , ” he said .
