Schools need to start teaching AI as demand for tech skills will boom 40%

New economic research reveals that teaching Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills in secondary schools could help to fill increasing demand for computer science and AI related roles, supporting on average £71 billion of economic output annually to 2030 in the UK economy. The report – commissioned by Amazon from Capital Economics – estimates that demand for jobs that require computer science, AI or machine learning skills in the UK are expected to increase by 40% over the next five years. In addition, research that looked at the potential future use of AI by UK businesses estimates that expenditure on AI-related labour could increase from £46 billion in 2020 to between £80 billion and £103 billion by 2025. In order to have enough AI talent in the UK workforce to fill computer science jobs by 2030, students will need to experience some form of AI-based learning during secondary school. An insufficient supply of skilled labour is one of the reasons why UK businesses are slow to adopt AI, with just 15% of UK businesses having currently adopted the technology.