Labour has rolled out its ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan,’ and the Prime Minister is all in. He uses strong words like growth and innovation to hype it up. The Plan declares that AI is essential and inevitable, calling for the government to invest heavily in the sector to keep the UK competitive.
The Plan also plays with numbers, declaring that investment needs to soar by 20 times and that AI’s computing needs have skyrocketed by 10,000 times. It positions Britain as a global leader in AI, thanks to initiatives like the AI Safety Institute, while invoking a nationalistic spirit with phrases like “world-class” and “national champions.” Scaling up is the main theme throughout.
However, beneath this enthusiasm lies a troubling trend. While the plan recognizes that the UK faces challenges, it pushes the idea of ‘AI Growth Zones’—essentially giving data center developers easy access to land and resources. But these zones are aimed at post-industrial towns already grappling with local tensions and issues, which haven’t vanished amid all the hype about technology.
The Labour government seems to be banking on AI at a time when its underlying commitment to transformative policies is fading. Their enthusiasm aligns closely with Big Tech’s demands. After Labour’s election victory, Google laid out what it wanted for the UK’s AI growth, urging support for data centers and fewer copyright restrictions, leveraging the idea that the UK could fall behind if it didn’t comply. The message hit home: Labour has now classified data centers as ‘critical national infrastructure,’ allowing ministers to bypass local objections to set them up.
This close relationship with Big Tech reflects a deeper attitude within the Labour government. Ministers, especially those in the Blairite faction, seem swayed by think tanks like the Tony Blair Institute, which pushes AI as a central policy goal. Their reports argue that leading in AI development is crucial for Britain’s future and call for massive increases in computing power and reduced regulations, all while urging close ties with the private sector.
While they promise that AI will save money and improve services, their research methods raise eyebrows. Reports show that using AI in public sectors results in unproven claims, much like discredited ideas from the past. The rush to adopt AI seems to sidestep deeper issues within the public system, avoiding any real challenge to the long-standing hold of neoliberal policies.
More concerning are the real-world consequences of this AI plan. Data centers require vast amounts of energy, and the UK is seeing significant environmental impacts. Areas are becoming overburdened, sometimes resulting in bans on new housing developments due to power shortages caused by data center demands. The reliance on fossil fuels is resurfacing as companies struggle to meet the energy needs.
Socially, AI often perpetuates existing injustices rather than alleviating them. Historical failures show algorithms failing to serve their intended purpose, with scandals about wrongful accusations in welfare programs and education. There’s a risk that recent AI advances won’t fix these problems but instead scale up their negative effects.
Labour’s commitment to AI may also play into the hands of far-right movements. By neglecting the structural issues within society while embracing AI, the party risks fueling anger among people already feeling left behind. The focus on technology as a distraction means that necessary changes are ignored, creating fertile ground for divisive politics.
The momentum behind AI is indeed concerning. The framing of AI safety by politicians reflects a broader anxiety about technology’s future. Some believe that advanced AI could lead to dire outcomes for humanity if not properly managed, stemming from a deep-seated worldview linking intelligence to societal value.
This mindset, rooted in historical eugenics, can lead to harmful ideologies that rank lives based on perceived worth. Companies and individuals within the AI space often prioritize their ambitious goals over troubling consequences, leading to political and financial power being concentrated in the hands of a few.
Critics of this trajectory advocate for ‘decomputing’—rejecting the push for more data centers and pushing back against AI-driven solutions that fail to address deeper societal issues. Instead of accepting the iron grip of AI, the emphasis should be on building community-driven, supportive systems that value human connection and care.
This counter-movement highlights the importance of local and democratic structures, aiming to reclaim agency from the technology-driven narrative. In areas where AI poses significant threats to social equity and the environment, there’s an urgency to create alternatives and challenge the prevailing notions that AI is the only solution.
The call for decomputing resonates in a broader effort to resist the negative impacts of technology and seek out paths built on solidarity and care—a stark contrast to the anxiety and division that current trends threaten to perpetuate.