UK government rollout of Humphrey AI tool raises fears about reliance on big tech
The government’s artificial intelligence (AI) tool known as Humphrey is based on models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, it can be revealed, raising questions about Whitehall’s increasing reliance on big tech,Ministers have staked the future of civil service reform on rolling out AI across the public sector to improve efficiency, with all officials in England and Wales to receive training in the toolkit,However, it is understood the government does not have overarching commercial agreements with the big tech companies on AI and uses a pay-as-you-go model through its existing cloud contracts, allowing it to swap through tools as they improve and become competitive,Critics are concerned about the speed and scale of embedding AI from big tech into the heart of government, especially when there is huge public debate about the technology’s use of copyrighted material,Ministers have been locked in a battle with critics in the House of Lords over whether AI is unfairly being trained on creative material without credit of compensation.
Its data bill allowing copyrighted material to be used unless the rights holder opts out passed its final stage this week in a defeat for those fighting for further protections.The issue has caused a fierce backlash from the creative sector, with artists including Elton John, Tom Stoppard, Paul McCartney and Kate Bush throwing their weight behind a campaign to protect copyrighted material.A freedom of information request showed the government’s Consult, Lex and Parlex tools designed to analyse consultations and legislative changes use base models from Open AI’s GPT, while its Redbox tool, which helps civil servants with everyday tasks such as preparing briefs, uses Open AI GPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google Gemini.Ed Newton-Rex, the chief executive of Fairly Trained, who obtained the FoI and is campaigning against AI being trained on copyrighted material, said there was the potential for a conflict when the government was also thinking about how this sector should deal with copyright.He said: “The government can’t effectively regulate these companies if it is simultaneously baking them into its inner workings as rapidly as possible.
These AI models are built via the unpaid exploitation of creatives’ work.“AI makes a ton of mistakes, so we should expect these mistakes to start showing up in the government’s work.AI is so well known for ‘hallucinating’ – that is, getting things wrong – that I think the government should be keeping transparent records of Humphrey’s mistakes, so that its continuing use can be periodically reevaluated.”Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour peer and civil liberties campaigner, also urged caution and to be mindful of biases and inaccuracies such as those seen in the Horizon computer system that led to the miscarriage of justice for post office operators.Whitehall sources said Humphrey tools all worked in different ways, but users could take different approaches to tackling “hallucinations”, or inaccuracy, and the government continually publishes evaluations about the accuracy of technology in trials.
An AI playbook for government also sets out guidance to help officials make use of the technology quickly and offers advice on how to ensure people have control over decisions at the right stages.The costs of using AI in government are expected to grow as Humphrey is further rolled out but officials say prices of AI per-use in the industry have trended downwards, as models become more efficient.Whitehall sources said big projects such as the Scottish government’s use of AI to analyse consultation responses had cost less than £50 and saved many hours of work.Using the government’s AI Minute software to take notes for a one-hour meeting costs less than 50p and its early data shows that it saves officials an hour of admin each time.A spokesperson from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “AI has immense potential to make public services more efficient by completing basic admin tasks, allowing experts to focus on the important work they are hired to deliver.
“Our use of this technology in no way limits our ability to regulate it, just as the NHS both procures medicines and robustly regulates them.“Humphrey, our package of AI tools for civil servants, is built by AI experts in government – keeping costs low as we experiment with what works best.”When the Guardian asked ChatGPT what base models were used for the Humphrey AI toolkit and if Open AI was involved, it replied that the information was not available.At the time the tool was announced earlier this year, the government said its strategy for spending £23bn a year on technology contracts would be changed, boosting opportunities for smaller tech startups.
Adult gaming centres failing to help problem gamblers self-exclude
Flaws in a scheme meant to help gamblers bar themselves from 24-hour slot machine shops have been described by the industry regulator as “very concerning”, following revelations in a BBC documentary.The Guardian has previously revealed how gambling operators are exploiting favourable planning and licensing laws to flood UK high streets with “adult gaming centres” (AGCs), which are disproportionately concentrated in the poorest areas.The shops must offer self-exclusion schemes to customers who fear they have a problem with slot machines, which are consistently linked with higher rates of addiction than products such as sports betting.But a documentary by BBC File on 4 Investigates, due to be broadcast on Tuesday evening, found that in one UK city 13 out of 14 venues failed to implement the scheme properly.An undercover reporter for the programme signed up to exclude himself from all AGCs within a 40km radius of central Portsmouth
Stress blamed for high number of NHS call handlers quitting
NHS call handlers are quitting amid burnout at dealing with 999 calls about suicides, stabbings and shootings and the long delays before ambulances reach patients.The pressure is so intense that 27% of control room staff in ambulance services across Britain have left their jobs over the last three years, NHS figures show.Many feel overwhelmed by the demands of their roles, unsupported by their employers and powerless to help patients who are facing life-or-death emergencies, according to a report by Unison, with some resigning within a year of starting the role.Call handlers get so stressed that they took an average of 33 sick days a year each between 2021/22 and 2024/25, data obtained by the union also showed. That is far higher than the average four days taken off sick by workers in the UK overall
Grooming gangs in UK thrived in ‘culture of ignorance’, Casey report says
A culture of “blindness, ignorance and prejudice” led to repeated failures over decades to properly investigate cases in which children were abused by grooming gangs, a report has said.As the government announced a public inquiry into the scandal, Louise Casey said for too long the authorities had shied away from the ethnicity of the people involved, adding it was “not racist to examine the ethnicity of the offenders”.Lady Casey said she found evidence of “over-representation” of Asian and Pakistani heritage men among suspects in local data – collected in Greater Manchester, West and South Yorkshire – and criticised a continued failure to gather robust data at a national level.The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, confirmed the government would accept all 12 recommendations of Casey’s rapid review, including setting up a statutory inquiry into institutional failures. This marked a significant reversal after months of pressure on Labour to act
Carer’s allowance: woman who won case against DWP calls for end to ‘sickening harassment’
The mother of a teenager with cerebral palsy has demanded an end to the “sickening harassment” of unpaid carers after a significant legal victory against the government.Nicola Green, 42, was pursued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for more than a year after she was accused of fraudulently claiming nearly £3,000 in carer’s allowance.When Green insisted she was innocent, the DWP wrote to her employer without her knowledge to try to recoup the sum from her pay.The part-time college worker, whose 17-year-old son has a number of health conditions, appealed against the fine before a tribunal judge, who quashed it in barely 30 minutes last month.Speaking after her legal victory, Green said she had been treated “like a criminal” by the DWP over the £2,823
Ministers plan to use NHS app to expand clinical trials as part of UK-wide drive
The government is aiming for a significant expansion of clinical trials in the UK, and plans to use the NHS app to encourage millions of people in England to take part in the search for new treatments.Patients will eventually be automatically matched with studies based on their health data and interests, via the app. The plans envisage alerting them to the trials using smartphone notifications.NHS trusts that fail to meet targets on trials will also be publicly named, and the best performers will be prioritised for funding, as part of improvements designed to restore Britain’s global reputation for medical research.The strategy is one of the first to emerge from the government’s forthcoming 10-year health plan for England
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