AI Incubator Faces Hurdles

The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI), a UK government unit created to improve Whitehall efficiency, has struggled to recruit top talent, leading to spending less than half its budget last year. The unit's mission is to harness AI for public good, partnering with departments and the private sector to identify AI opportunities, test applications, develop production versions, and advise on AI deployment.

Despite plans to more than double its workforce, i.AI has only filled just over 60% of its intended 70 positions. These roles span AI engineering, data and cloud services, evaluation, product delivery, software development, and user-centred design. The unit aims to improve public services by automating routine tasks, freeing civil servants for roles requiring human judgement. The government is also investing in upskilling Whitehall coders into AI specialists through programmes like the AI Accelerator Programme.

i.AI is involved in several projects, including the AI Knowledge Hub, Consult (analysing public consultation responses), and Extract (converting old maps into planning data). It has also developed tools like Redbox, which summarises documents for ministers, and Caddy, a customer service assistant in collaboration with Citizens Advice.