Intensifying concerns about AI safety must not stop governments keeping pace with this revolution, warns TBI
AI is transforming the world at unprecedented speed – and political leaders cannot avoid the choices that will shape their countries’ future
Governments already struggling to deliver at the pace citizens expect risk falling behind as the pace and complexity of change increase
TBI calls on leaders to transform how government works – harnessing AI to build more capable, responsive states while managing its profound risks
AI can help leaders understand the world more clearly and respond more effectively – but the hard political choices about a country’s future must remain in human hands
There are intensifying concerns about AI safety and it is clear that these evolving risks need to be effectively managed. But there is also another risk that leaders must take just as seriously – countries that fail to absorb major technological revolutions will suffer profound and compounding disadvantage.
A new TBI report, Leading in the Age of AI: How to Build an AI-Enabled State, argues that AI is driving change at unprecedented speed and scale, but that the institutions supporting political leaders are not equipped for what is coming. Governments are already struggling to deliver at the pace citizens expect, contributing to a wider crisis of confidence in their ability to get things done. As the technological and geopolitical disruption accelerates, TBI warns these limitations will become increasingly difficult to sustain.
Leaders cannot avoid the change that AI will bring and those that fail to engage will remain exposed to its risks – from labour-market disruption and new national-security threats to the safety and control of increasingly powerful AI systems – while missing its opportunities.
Instead, leaders should harness AI and digital technologies to transform how government works: connecting information and expertise across institutions, giving leaders a clearer picture of what is happening, identifying problems earlier and helping translate political priorities into results.
But greater machine intelligence does not diminish the need for political leadership. AI can help leaders understand their choices and their consequences, but it cannot decide what a country should prioritise or which trade-offs should be made.
The aim, TBI argues, should be to “automate intelligence to elevate judgement” – using AI to strengthen government while keeping political judgement and responsibility firmly in human hands.
In his foreword to the report, Tony Blair says:
“New capabilities are emerging at an extraordinary pace, with profound implications for economies, education, science, labour markets, public services and national security.
“The opportunities are equally immense. For developed countries, AI productivity gains can help break the cycle of rising taxes and spending that too often fails to improve public-service outcomes. For developing countries, AI can dramatically expand access to scarce expertise, allowing them to accelerate development in ways that were previously impossible. AI will transform health care and improve quality of life; revolutionise science and accelerate the pace of discovery; and democratise access to high-quality education around the world.
“But the risks are equally profound and growing, and so too is public concern. AI will disrupt labour markets. It is likely to concentrate extraordinary amounts of technological and economic power. AI systems are already dramatically lowering the costs and increasing the capabilities of malicious actors to conduct cyber-attacks autonomously. There is growing concern about how AI may enable new biological threats too. Countries will be forced to confront serious questions about how they can best oversee, control, or influence autonomous and highly advanced AI systems.
“But there is another risk that leaders must take just as seriously. Countries also suffer profound and compounding disadvantage if they fail to absorb major technological revolutions.
“Today’s political leaders must do the same. They must make hard choices that will significantly alter their countries’ trajectories. However, the institutions of the modern state meant to support political leaders in making these choices are simply not equipped for what is coming.”
TBI argues that adopting individual AI tools or running isolated pilots will not be enough. Governments need to fundamentally change how information, decisions and coordination flow across the state.
The report recommends governments:
Build AI-enabled strategic intelligence and simulation capabilities at the centre, helping leaders identify risks, test choices and make better-informed decisions.
Build shared digital and data foundations so information can move securely across government.
Create shared institutional memory to preserve decisions, evidence and lessons across government.
Scale what works, creating a common route from AI experimentation to adoption across the state.
Introduce bounded AI agents to carry out clearly defined, auditable tasks as the technology matures.
Keep political decisions in human hands, maintaining clear democratic accountability for priorities and trade-offs.
Report author Keegan McBride, Director of Science & Technology at TBI, said:
“Political leaders cannot sit out the age of AI. AI will transform how economies function, how science and research are conducted, and how countries think about defence and security.
“Political leaders will have to make hard choices that respond to this new reality, which will fundamentally shape their countries’ future – and they need institutions capable of helping them make and deliver those choices.
“In the age of AI, the best institutions are those that put digital technology and AI at the heart of everything that they do.
“How governments work and operate will change, there is no other option, but what will remain the same is political leaders having to make choices.”
The report concludes that the countries that succeed in the AI age will not simply be those with the most powerful technologies, but those able to translate them into greater national capability – with the capacity of the state to adapt and deliver increasingly shaping a country’s prosperity, security and power.
ENDS