Meta Seeks to Transform the UK’s Public Sector with New AI Fellowship

Meta has announced £1 million funding to support the Open-Source AI Fellowship programme in Britain. According to UK News, Meta’s public sector AI fellowship focuses on bringing the UK’s top AI experts into government with a view of developing cutting edge AI tools.

Meta made the funding to the Alan Turing Institute. However, the AI fellowship programme will be led by the UK Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology.

Focus on Public Service

Meta’s AI fellowship programme comes at a time when the UK government is increasingly utilizing AI tools to improve public service efficiency.

The AI fellowship is expected to attract highly sought AI experts to expand current services, including Humphrey AI tools that are used in the public service. This will enable the government to address the challenges associated with menial tasks like note taking and summarizing in public service

As a part of supporting civil service AI adoption, fellows are also expected to develop new AI tools to support high-security use cases in the public sector. These include language translation in the national security context and utilizing construction planning data to fast tract approvals in order to build more homes.

Leveraging Open-Source Models

The new AI Fellowship will focus more on utilizing open-source AI models like the Meta Llama 3.5 that the social media giant has been championing.

“Open-source technologies have great potential to help the government increase productivity, support decision-making and deliver better public services. These fellowships will offer an innovative way to match AI experts with the real world challenges our public services are facing,” Alan Turing Institute CEO Dr. Jean Innes said.

According to the UK government, using open-source AI models could lower costs for citizens and unlock up to 45 billion pounds in productivity gains throughout the public sector. The programme will involve a tour of duty in public technological services for a year. The UK government has encouraged AI experts to apply for the programme

“This Fellowship is the best of AI in action – open, practical, and built for public good. It’s about delivery, not just ideas – creating real tools that help the government work better for people. We’ve already seen the potential. Caddy, developed with Citizens Advice now helping Cabinet Office teams – shows how open AI tools can boost productivity, improve decision-making, and support frontline staff,” UK’s Tech Secretary Peter Kyle said.

Kyle also highlighted the potential of the AI program to enhance the UK’s sovereign AI efforts.

“The Fellowship will help scale that kind of impact across government, and develop sovereign capabilities where the UK must lead, like national security and critical infrastructure,” he added.

Long Term Plan

Meta’s AI fellowship funding comes soon after the US big tech announced that it will be establishing a £12m research lab in Cambridge. Meta added that this initiative is part of its “long-term commitment to innovation in the UK”.
The social media giant has praised its partnership with the Alan Turing Institute, saying that it will enable the UK government to access the best AI specialists in the country.
“This partnership with the Alan Turing Institute will help the government access some of the brightest minds and the technology they need to solve big challenges – and to do it openly and in the public interest. We hope these fellows will make a big, positive difference and help show just how valuable open-source AI can be to governments and society more broadly,” Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said.