New UK Prime Minister appoints first ever Minister for AI in his cabinet
In case you missed it, the UK has a new Prime Minister as Andy Burnham takes over No. 10 Downing Street, replacing outgoing PM Keir Starmer. Among his first tasks as the new UK Prime Minister is of course to form his own cabinet, and one surprise announcement in it is that he’s including a new AI Minister in it.
Kanishka Narayan is the UK’s new Minister for Artificial Intelligence, promoting the role to a cabinet-attending minister for the first time. Narayan was previously a junior minister for AI and online safety under Starmer, but served under the then-technology secretary Liz Kendall. Narayan, as Minister for Artificial Intelligence, will now report to the cabinet office directly
Following his appointment as the Minister for AI, Narayan responded by stating that this was a sign of the new Prime Minister’s deep commitment to AI’s importance. Narayan also highlighted that AI is set to become one of human history’s most significant technologies, and that he will act to secure British influence in shaping AI.
“The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, today asked me to attend Cabinet as Minister for AI, a sign of his deep commitment to AI’s importance.
AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things.
The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.
The risks, too, are real: it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change.
The central fact is that it is happening. Nations have a narrow window to decide whether they shape AI or get shaped by it. Britain is in that window right now.
While that window is still open, I will act with pace, I will act with ambition, and I will focus relentlessly on securing British influence in shaping AI.
I will also bring to this job the place I represent – a constituency in Wales, a nation with industry and ambition at its heart, a proud history of punching above its weight on the global stage. A nation which welcomed a 12-year old and his family, gave us the best chance at opportunity, put me in Parliament as Wales’ first ethnic minority MP, and now affords me the chance to make a mark in Cabinet. Diolch o galon to everyone in the Vale of Glamorgan,” – Kanishka Narayan, UK Minister for Artificial Intelligence
Narayan will be closely watched by technocrats around the world, as despite the UK long been touted as an engineering and technology powerhouse, in recent times Britain has gone back and forth between deciding to invest or put on hold digital infrastructure projects; the country’s high energy prices remain a stumbling block.
Incidentally, the UK isn’t the first major country with a Minister for Artificial Intelligence in its cabinet. While most countries handle AI policy through their digital or technology ministries, others like Canada, France and the United Arab Emirates do have positions in government dedicated to artificial intelligence.
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