Back in 1877, a leader column in the Times wrote on the rise of a new invention heralded by some as a revolutionary technological development: the telephone.
The emerging device might be useful in the home for summoning servants, the piece suggested, but the idea that voices could ever be sent across the Atlantic was just “silly”.
With London Tech Week in full swing, and the rise of artificial intelligence at the centre of conversations happening across the capital, that article from almost 150 years ago serves as a helpful reminder of where we are with understanding the implications of AI.
We’re currently in the messy phase – often experienced when genuinely transformative tech comes on the scene – where adoption is happening, but we don’t yet know exactly how it will play out in the end.
That said, there a few things we can start to say for certain. One is that, here in London, the impacts of AI adoption will be felt more profoundly than in other parts of the country. The capital is the UK’s biggest labour market and a services superpower – a world-leader in fields like finance, law, media, professional services and education where AI use is rapidly growing.
We can also say for sure that London has established itself as a global centre for excellence in the field. Investment in the city’s AI sector has soared in recent years, with the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind establishing a significant presence here.
With more firms making greater use of platforms to improve productivity, the rise of AI offers a huge opportunity to drive growth and spur innovation across the city.
It also presents a challenge in ensuring adoption represents a win-win for both the economy and for Londoners, especially given that the capital has the highest unemployment rate in the country, and a youth unemployment rate which stood close to 25% at the start of this year.
That backdrop means it is vital that London seizes the opportunity to lead the way in successful adoption of AI, creating a positive blueprint for other cities at home and abroad.
How will our skills system have to change to make that vision a reality?
That is one of the questions that our AI Steering Group, established alongside Deloitte, is bringing senior business leaders together – from lawyers to construction companies – to help answer.
Early insights show AI use is widespread and varied across a range of sectors, ranging from improving repetitive processes, like sifting through CVs or summarising reports, through to much more strategic applications: transport operators using AI to optimise routes; firms in creative industries using platforms for ideas generation; and construction companies using AI imaging to identify snags.
With use cases set to spread further, our skills system must now adapt quickly to reflect the reality that AI platforms will become integral to every workplace and everyone’s job. Much like skills in using a telephone might have been specified by employers as a necessary skill for some jobs back in the 19th century, being adept at using AI platforms will cease to be highlighted in many job specs: it will be taken as a given.
Firms are telling us that greater demand for those with AI skills will be accompanied by a simultaneous shift to higher value being placed on uniquely human qualities that platforms can’t replicate, such as relationship building, critical thinking and ethical judgement.
They’re also telling us that learning needs to be much more applied: on-the-job, practical and embedded into day-to-day work.
So, we need to see the development of digital skills and AI literacy, as well as qualities like critical thinking and teamwork, embedded into our schools and education system from the get-go, in a way that’s responsive to the rapidly changing needs of business.
With so many young people struggling to take their first step on the careers ladder, our education system must provide them with the skills that firms are seeking. To help achieve that goal, the London Local Skills Improvement Plan – which we’re delivering in partnership with other businesses groups alongside City Hall – is bringing together businesses, training providers and policymakers to tackle skills gaps across the capital.
From the employer perspective, we’re hearing that the firms getting the most from platforms are those that are starting with the end in mind: working out what they want to achieve and then reimagining how AI can help them to get there. It’s then about embedding training with practical day-to-day examples of use cases, and giving people time to learn – and we’ve heard that creating internal AI champions can also help overcome the fear factor among some staff.
National government also has a role to play: given how employment costs have shot up over the last year, financial incentives to train staff could make a really big difference, as would tangible action around its plans for a Lifelong Learning Entitlement to fund flexible skill development in growth sectors.
Likewise, City Hall has significant levers it can pull when it comes to upskilling. Speaking on our What Next for London? podcast this week, Baroness Martha Lane Fox, Chair of the Mayor’s AI and Jobs Taskforce, highlighted the important role the Mayor can play given his control of the adult skills budget and his ability to convene key players across the capital. As new tech reshapes business requirements, she suggested: “this might be the moment to reinvent” the skills system “in a more helpful and lifelong way.”
And just as the incorporation of the telephone into workplaces started to change the skills required to do jobs effectively across industries in the 19th century, so AI will reshape existing roles and create new ones in the 21st.
It is therefore essential that we modernise our skills system accordingly, so more Londoners are equipped for the jobs of today and tomorrow.