Report

Assuring growth

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation looks at the rising demand for AI assurance technologies and sets out how the UK can get a head start in this market.

Artificial intelligence could boost the economy and public sector productivity, but for these benefits to materialise, concerns around the safety and reliability of AI tools need to be allayed.

This report – published simultaneously by UK Day One Project and the Social Market Foundation, and authored by researchers at the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy – looks at the rising demand for AI assurance technologies and sets out how the UK can get a head start in this market. For the benefits of AI to be realised, users need assurance that AI tools are safe, secure, and reliable. This has created burgeoning demand for new AI assurance technologies (AIATs).

The global AIAT market could grow to $276 billion by 2030, but most AIATs need R&D investment to operate at scale. The UK has a head start in the AIAT landscape, with a world-leading AI Safety Institute (AISI) and a fledgling start-up scene, but uncertainties around regulation, technical priorities and demand mean the global market is still up for grabs. Handled correctly, the UK could capture a massive share of the market, complementing growth in the UK AI market and supporting national security and regional industrial strategy.

To achieve this, the government should announce a market shaping programme mobilising public and private sector investment. It should establish an inter-departmental group to guide AIAT policy and come up with a three-year roadmap for introducing mandatory AI assurance standards. It should also direct £10m of AISI’s budget into seed funding for priority AIATs, grant companies developing AIATs free access to public compute and commission a study analysing the technical and market barriers to developing and commercialising priority AIATs. Finally, it should invest £50m in pay-outs contingent on achieving specific technological goals.