Hillingdon Is The UK’s Newest AI-ready Borough

Artificial intelligence is the buzzword for 2023. Since ChatGPT’s arrival in late 2022, the concept of generative AI has exploded into the public consciousness, and adoption is rocketing.

The platform racked up 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after launch, which makes it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.

It is just one of many new and emerging generative AI tools and applications. Google has launched Bard, its experimental, conversational, AI chat service; Microsoft has integrated generative AI into Bing for a more conversational web search engine, and there are a host of image generators growing in popularity too, such as Midjourney and DALL-E.

User interest is rapidly growing, with trends site Exploding Topics reporting a 1,143% increase in search interest in “AI voice generator” and a 268% increase in searches for “AI coach”.

In the face of warnings about AI’s capabilities, the European Parliament has begun to bring legislation on stream. The EU AI Act will be the first regulation on artificial intelligence and will make sure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally-friendly. 

Crucially, the act intends that AI will be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.

In the UK too, frameworks are being put in place, outlined in a white paper published by the government in March. It sets out guidelines for “responsible use” of AI, which will be measured against five principles: safety, security and robustness; transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress.

Thriving industry

Also according to the government, the UK’s AI industry is thriving, employing over 50,000 people and contributing £3.7 billion to the economy last year. The UK government was ranked third in the 2021 global AI Readiness Index, and first in Europe, says Oxford Insights.

The country already has a number of established hotspots for AI innovation, including London, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham, and a new report has shone the spotlight on more areas of AI-readiness.

In the SAS AI Cities Index 2023, it is the London borough of Hillingdon that is the one to watch. It beat out the business hubs of Islington, Southwark and Westminster in a list of the boroughs leading the way in AI to drive productivity, and plug the skills gap.

SAS’ research identified Hillingdon based on four indicators: the value of InnovateUK projects granted between 2022 and 2025, the number of AI-related jobs currently advertised within a five-mile radius, the number of university courses which feature AI as part of the module, and the average life satisfaction of residents.

Future jobs

That’s good news for future job growth, but as Glyn Townsend, senior director of education services at SAS says, “More and more careers require an element of data literacy, and so educators need to be well-versed in teaching people these skills and, where relevant, data analytics and AI elements.”

He also points out that “The UK has a goal to become a science and technology superpower by 2030. But as the industry grows at pace and generates thousands of jobs, who fills them when we’re in the midst of the digital skills gap?”

Over half of UK firms say that accessing talent will be their biggest challenge over the next 12 months, according to TechUK. So if you have AI skills now, you’re in a great place; and if not, you’ve still got time to develop your capabilities.

A job move can be a great way to not only sharpen your skills, but access new ones too. If you’re in the market, the CityAM Job Board contains thousands of jobs across the financial services and fintech industries. Discover three open roles below.

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