What can the public sector do with AI?

Great idea, big potential, but few applications so far and a lot to learn. This sums up the outlook for how public services could make use of artificial intelligence (AI), the technology that is stirring up hopes and fears, and is already surrounded by an aura of inevitability. There is some debate about its definition, but it is generally seen as a stream of computing developed to carry out tasks usually requiring human intelligence, and to learn from what it takes in. It came in for a new round of attention last week when the Government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Mark Walport, delivered a Turing Institute lecture on the potential. It was notable for emphasising the overall significance rather than much precision on how AI could be used: Walport spoke of applications in justice, welfare, education and medicine, but largely in broad terms.