Despite vocal enthusiasm and “a proliferation of government guidance documents”, the UK government is failing to support local authorities when it comes to artificial intelligence procurement, claims a new report by the Ada Lovelace Institute.
The independent research organisation’s findings were released on Tuesday. The report analyses 16 different pieces of guidance and legislation – published under the previous Government – relevant to AI procurement. They include newer AI technologies, such as generative AI, as well as data-driven technologies already widely used by local authorities, such as predictive analytics.
Neither clear, nor comprehensive, nor consistent
The report found that local governments lack access to “a clear, comprehensive or consistent account of how to procure AI.”
The public sector procures the majority of AI technologies from the private sector. Therefore, the institute’s report argues that the procurement process can and should play an important role in assessing the effectiveness of potential solutions, anticipating and mitigating risks, and ensuring that any deployment is proportionate, legitimate and in line with broader public sector duties.
Imogen Parker, Associate Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute commented: “Procurement can and should be a key lever in ensuring that AI tools being used by local government are safe, effective, fair and in the public interest. Local authorities face the unenviable task of having to navigate unclear, overlapping and sometimes conflicting guidance.”
The Institute’s report includes a number of practical suggestions for improving procurement of AI and data-driven systems in local government. These include clearer guidance, definitions, success metrics and responsibilities. Specific examples include implementing governance mechanisms like the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard, piloting impact assessments and supporting public participation.
AI as the answer to a local governments in crisis?
The report comes at a time when local authorities in the UK are facing severe pain points. Public services in the UK, including the National Health Service, are “stretched and struggling.” This year, a record number of local authorities declaring effective bankruptcy. This is largely the result of funding cuts by the central Government. The effect of these cuts has also been compounded by the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, increasing demand for local services due to economic pressures and an ageing population have also contributed.
In the face of these growing challenges, policymakers have touted AI as a potential “cure-all” solution. The technology could, politicians argue, help address societal problems such as the cost-of-living crisis. It could also, they argue, enable innovation or improve efficiency within government at all levels. However, we can’t determine whether or not using AI to fill in the massive funding gaps that plague the UK’s local governments is a viable solution until local authorities can implement AI tools. The Ada Lovelace Institute urges that “the use of AI in the public sector must be carefully assessed to ensure it is fit for purpose” and deployed for the public good.
The first step, warns Parker, is “‘Embedding a robust, ethical procurement process in the context of reduced budgets”. She admits this represents a “significant challenge.” However, she also insists that “it is important to also consider the cost of not doing this, both financially and ethically, something demonstrated all too clearly by the Post Office’s Horizon scandal.”
