Why the UK is primed to lead a global charge in ‘green AI’ innovation

‘Green AI’ is good for business, and UK trade group UKAI is calling for more government support to position the country as the go-to location for eco-conscious tech companies.

AI that's efficient, affordable, deployable at scale, and aligned with long-term economic and environmental sustainability isn't just better for the planet, it makes economic sense, according to UKAI.

Future advantage won't just be a question of raw compute, the trade group said, but will belong to countries that deliver the greatest economic and social value per unit of energy, infrastructure, and resource.

Notably, the UK is uniquely positioned to lead this shift, in part because of all its existing problems, such as high energy costs, grid constraints, complex planning systems, and strong public scrutiny.

This confluence of issues means the UK is already operating under the conditions that many other AI economies will soon face, giving it a head start in terms of innovation in efficiency, system design, and coordination.

“The UK is at a crossroads; with the opportunity to become the next green AI superpower, if we seize the moment,” said Tim Flagg, chief executive of UKAI.

"We already have the foundations: world-class research, strong innovation, and hard-won experience operating under energy and infrastructure constraints," Flagg added.

"That gives us a genuine opportunity to lead, and to export Green British AI to a global market that is starting to face the same challenges and require the solutions that we are pioneering. But this window will not stay open for long, we need to act now.”

How will a ‘green AI’ strategy work?

The report sets out four mutually reinforcing priorities that together define a Green AI strategy: integrated infrastructure, fairer pricing, targeted innovation, and smarter systems.

UKAI has also called on the government to make green AI a national priority, while building consumer trust in AI.

It should prioritize the early development of shared technical, data, and governance standards to ensure interoperability across AI, energy, and infrastructure systems by default.

Elsewhere, greater support for research will be needed, according to the trade group, which called for the creation and support of a small number of AI and energy-focused “living labs” to act as real world testbeds.

The public sector has a part to play

Public sector procurement could be key to shaping and scaling effective ecosystems in the medium-term, according to UKAI. This will help support open and federated approaches.

A dedicated industry-led body with responsibility for building, coordinating, and scaling the "Green AI mission" will also be required.

"The future success of the UK’s AI sector will be determined less by the pace of technical innovation alone, and more by the interconnected systems approach that enables AI to be deployed at scale. Energy, infrastructure, markets, regulation, and coordination are no longer peripheral considerations; they are now decisive," the report concludes.

"For the UK, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that many of the constraints holding back AI growth are structural and cross-cutting. The opportunity is that these are precisely the areas where the UK can differentiate itself."

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