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Probably42 News - March 2023
Welcome to our March Newsletter!
You may have missed it but there was an important report from Tony Blair and William Hague (produced by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change) called ‘A New National Purpose: Innovation Can Power the Future of Britain’. Unfortunately, the reporting in the press centred on one relatively minor item, digital identity cards, because it was seen as contentious.
We very much welcome the report as part of the national dialogue we have long advocated on shaping our future in the light of Artificial Intelligence and technological innovation. A number of the reports recommendations overlap with our own in our document A Manifesto for Society in the Artificial Intelligence Future.
We are in the process of providing feedback on this report to the Institute because, while we welcome it, we think that just like the National AI Strategy it omits two important pillars, namely:
- Using AI to improve society for the good of all – taking a societal perspective, not just a business-led perspective
- Managing and overcoming the downsides and unintended consequences of AI deployment
We see these as necessary to underpin any future plans and ensure that all the elements of the UK’s AI Strategy fit together with no gaps in the thinking.
In our view it would be a missed opportunity on an unprecedented scale for the Government not to consider the first and irresponsible not to tackle the second.
Recent and Forthcoming Discussions
Since our last newsletter in February we’ve discussed the topic of Longevity and Ageing Population Impacts and how to deal with them. This topic cut across many of our existing proposals not least re NHS, Elderly Social Care and Housing. However it also generated a number of new ideas not least related to State, Private and Public Sector pensions.
Our topic for March is 'Addressing workforce shortages to grow the economy'. You can see the proposed agenda at Topic for Mar/April 2023 - Probably42.
Government Information that may interest you
As usual we highlight more examples of information on Parliament activity and outputs which may interest you:
- The agreement in principle reached by the UK and the EU regarding the Windsor Framework The Windsor Framework - sector explainer - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and The Windsor Framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The Illegal Migration Bill Illegal Migration Bill: overarching documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a joint declaration UK-France Joint Leaders' Declaration: 10 March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
Why not join a Group?
If you’d like to join one of the Probably42 discussion groups held via videoconferencing, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you more details. We very much want a diversity of viewpoints, so you can be sure your views will be welcomed. Remember it’s about relaxed discussion and having an enjoyable time, with hopefully some useful ideas identified.
We also want to encourage face-to-face real world discussion groups, as feeders into the main online discussions. If you’d like to find out more about the one in Berkshire, or if you’d like to see one start in your area, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you details.
Feedback
We always welcome any feedback, thoughts, ideas or questions about Probably42. Simply reply to this newsletter and you’ll receive a personal reply.
All the best
Tony