AI to replace civil servants' work if it can be done to the same quality, Starmer to say

AI should replace the work of government officials where it can be done to the same standard, under new rules that have prompted unions to warn Keir Starmer to stop blaming problems on civil servants.

- Rowena Mason

As part of his plans for reshaping the state, the prime minister will today outline how a digital revolution will bring billions of pounds in savings to the government.

Officials will be told to abide by a mantra that says: "No person's substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard."

In his speech, Starmer will claim that more than £45bn can be saved by greater use of digital methods in Whitehall, even before AI is deployed, with 2,000 new tech apprentices recruited to the civil service.

However, with bruising cuts on the way at this spring's spending review, Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said: "Mantras that look like they've been written by ChatGPT are fine for setting out a mission, but spending rounds are about reality."

He said civil servants would welcome the commitment of more support with digital transformation, but with a bruising spending round ahead, the government "needs to set out, in detail, how more can be delivered with less".