UK workers wary of AI despite Starmer’s push to increase uptake, survey finds
It is the work shortcut that dare not speak its name,A third of people do not tell their bosses about their use of AI tools amid fears their ability will be questioned if they do,Research for the Guardian has revealed that only 13% of UK adults openly discuss their use of AI with senior staff at work and close to half think of it as a tool to help people who are not very good at their jobs to get by,Amid widespread predictions that many workers face a fight for their jobs with AI, polling by Ipsos found that among more than 1,500 British workers aged 16 to 75, 33% said they did not discuss their use of AI to help them at work with bosses or other more senior colleagues,They were less coy with people at the same level, but a quarter of people believe “co-workers will question my ability to perform my role if I share how I use AI”.
The Guardian’s survey also uncovered deep worries about the advance of AI, with more than half of those surveyed believing it threatens the social structure,The number of people believing it has a positive effect is outweighed by those who think it does not,It also found 63% of people do not believe AI is a good substitute for human interaction, while 17% think it is,Next week’s state visit to the UK by Donald Trump is expected to signal greater collaboration between the UK and Silicon Valley to make Britain an important centre of AI development,The US president is expected to be joined by Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI who has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government to explore the deployment of advanced AI models in areas including justice, security and education.
Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the chip maker Nvidia, is also expected to announce an investment in the UK’s biggest datacentre yet, to be built near Blyth in Northumbria,Keir Starmer has said he wants to “mainline AI into the veins” of the UK,Silicon Valley companies are aggressively marketing their AI systems as capable of cutting grunt work and liberating creativity,The polling appears to reflect workers’ uncertainty about how bosses want AI tools to be used, with many employers not offering clear guidance,There is also fear of stigma among colleagues if workers are seen to rely too heavily on the bots.
A separate US study circulated this week found that medical doctors who use AI in decision-making are viewed by their peers as significantly less capable.Ironically, the doctors who took part in the research by Johns Hopkins Carey Business School recognised AI as beneficial for enhancing precision, but took a negative view when others were using it.Gaia Marcus, the director of the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent AI research body, said the large minority of people who did not talk about AI use with their bosses illustrated the “potential for a large trust gap to emerge between government’s appetite for economy-wide AI adoption and the public sense that AI might not be beneficial to them or to the fabric of society”.“We need more evaluation of the impact of using these tools, not just in the lab but in people’s everyday lives and workflows,” she said.“To my knowledge, we haven’t seen any compelling evidence that the spread of these generative AI tools is significantly increasing productivity yet.
Everything we are seeing suggests the need for humans to remain in the driving seat with the tools we use,”Sign up to TechScapeA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesafter newsletter promotionA study by the Henley Business School in May found 49% of workers reported there were no formal guidelines for AI use in their workplace and more than a quarter felt their employer did not offer enough support,Prof Keiichi Nakata at the school said people were more comfortable about being transparent in their use of AI than 12 months earlier but “there are still some elements of AI shaming and some stigma associated with AI”,He said: “Psychologically, if you are confident with your work and your expertise you can confidently talk about your engagement with AI, whereas if you feel it might be doing a better job than you are or you feel that you will be judged as not good enough or worse than AI, you might try to hide that or avoid talking about it,”OpenAI’s head of solutions engineering for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Matt Weaver, said: “We’re seeing huge demand from business leaders for company-wide AI rollouts – because they know using AI well isn’t a shortcut, it’s a skill.
Leaders see the gains in productivity and knowledge sharing and want to make that available to everyone,”
Ellie Kildunne hands England boost with return for Rugby World Cup semi-final
England’s world player of the year, Ellie Kildunne, is expected to be ready to play against France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup semi‑final against France on Saturday after missing the 40-8 quarter-final win against Scotland on Sunday.The full-back did not play against Scotland because of concussion protocols, but afterwards the Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, said: “We have a clean bill of health I think. Ellie is back running, back into collision work and she is going good.”Kildunne sustained a head injury in England’s final pool match against Australia and was taken off with concussion symptoms. That meant she has had to go through a mandatory 12-day stand-down period
England still favourites to lift Rugby World Cup, but betting on them is another matter | Robert Kitson
Roses are red, Scotland in blue, the stakes are rising, how will they do? The scoreboard answer from a soaking wet Bristol was predictable enough. When bookmakers start quoting prices of 1000-1 on for a team to win a two‑horse race, the chances of England failing to reach the semi‑finals were roughly on a par with anyone in the stands getting sunstroke.With it came yet another record statistic for John Mitchell’s bunch of serial winners. No leading international rugby side in history has previously won 31 Tests in a row as England’s women have now done: 61 victories in their past 62 Tests leaves precious little room for people to question their pedigree or killer instinct.Yet would you absolutely put your mortgage on England hoisting the World Cup in just under a fortnight? This may, of course, depend on the precise sum of money involved and the potential availability of other emergency income streams
England 40-8 Scotland: Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 quarter-final – as it happened
Here is Sarah Rendell’s match report from a blustery Ashton Gate, where England won their 31st game in a row. Two more to go. Thanks for joining me, enjoy your evenings.France will be England’s semi-final opponents, but only after Ireland gave them an almighty scare earlier today:Some words from Bryan Easson on his final game as Scotland head coach. “We did what we wanted to do, reaching the knockout stages
Brendon McCullum mulls appointing Harry Brook as England vice-captain for Ashes
Harry Brook could replace Ollie Pope as England vice-captain for the Ashes after Brendon McCullum, the head coach, revealed it was up for discussion in an otherwise “easy” squad to select.Speaking after an afternoon of solid rain in Nottingham caused a washout of the third Twenty20 between England and South Africa – the international home summer ending with a 1-1 series draw – McCullum floated the possibility of Brook as deputy to Ben Stokes given his role as the limited-overs captain.McCullum said: “It’s no secret that Brook is emerging as a leader within English cricket, so that’s something we need to work out. But whatever happens, a great team understands that just because you haven’t got a [leadership] title, doesn’t stop you from being a leader.”A switch would be a blow to Pope, who has been vice-captain since late 2022 and led the team five times during this time
England blow away Scotland to set up World Cup semi-final against France
Torrential rain and blustery conditions meant there was no champagne rugby on display in Bristol but the occasion more than lived up to the hype with a sold-out Ashton Gate cheering England to a comfortable win against Scotland to book their spot in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, where they will face France.Some had worried the conditions may have seen some supporters not turn out but the doubters were proved wrong with the stands full to the brim to witness the Red Roses break their own world record of consecutive wins as the victory took them to 31 in a row.The quarter-final also proved to be the hottest ticket in town with the USA player Ilona Maher returning after watching Canada’s win against Australia on Saturday and the former England goalkeeper Mary Earps was also in the stands.The players had to play the conditions in front of them which led to lulls in the game with handling errors littered throughout but there were good performances on display. The prop Kelsey Clifford started in place of Hannah Botterman and she backed up her two tries from last weekend with another double, while it was also a special day for Abby Dow as she scored her 50th try for England, becoming just the sixth Red Rose to do so
Manchester City honour Ricky Hatton, ‘one of our most loved supporters’
Manchester City paid tribute to “one of their most loved supporters” when they held a minute’s appreciation on Sunday before the derby against Manchester United to honour Ricky Hatton after his death – with the City manager, Pep Guardiola, saying the news was “tough to wake up to”.The 46-year-old Hatton, a lifelong City fan, was found dead in his Manchester home on Sunday morning, with police confirming his death was not being treated as suspicious. Guardiola led the tributes to the former world champion boxer.“It was tough news to wake up to,” the City manager said. “Of course he had success and was world champion, but it’s the loss for his family, his kids – he was a grandad
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