Britain’s AI minister has ordered changes to government guidance that urged civil servants to limit their use of AI, saying it failed to reflect ministers’ ambitions to ramp up adoption across Whitehall.
Kanishka Narayan said guidance published last week had now been updated after it advised government workers to use AI only when necessary, choose smaller models and keep prompts to a minimum to cut energy use and costs.
“Being environmentally conscious and keeping an eye on running costs is, of course, important – but so is encouraging AI adoption and scaling up its use across the public sector”, Narayan said on X.
“This advice has been updated and we are reviewing similar pages to reflect the fullness of our ambition for the UK”.
It comes just days after government guidance attracted attention for telling civil servants there was no need to thank AI chatbots, alongside recommendations to use lighter models such as Gemini Flash rather than Gemini Pro and GPT Instant instead of GPT Thinking.
The guidance said AI uses more energy and resources than conventional software and told staff to consider whether a spreadsheet or search engine could do the job instead.
Civil servants were also advised to keep prompts “short, clear and direct”, use as few prompts as possible and only turn to AI when needed,
The latest version instead puts greater emphasis on responsible use rather than discouraging unnecessary use.
It tells civil servants they remain responsible for their work when using AI and must check its output for inaccuracies, bias or unfairness.
Staff are also warned to protect sensitive information and use systems provided by their departments for government work.
“You are responsible for any content or decisions you make using AI”, the new advice says, telling officials to use their own judgement and be prepared to explain decisions made with the technology.
The change highlights the balancing act facing ministers as they push AI deeper into government while trying to control the risks and costs that come with it.
Whitehall’s AI push #
The change in direction comes as the government looks to accelerate AI adoption across the public sector, an area that now falls directly within his ministerial responsibilities. Minister Narayan’s brief covers both the government’s AI strategy and public sector adoption.
Existing government guidance already encourages civil servants to explore how generative AI could improve their work, while warning them not to enter sensitive or personal information and to check outputs for misinformation and bias.
A government AI playbook published last year similarly set out ten principles for the use of the technology across Whitehall, covering how officials should select, buy and deploy AI safely.
But the push to accelerate adoption has come alongside concerns over how quickly AI is being introduced into public services and whether sufficient human oversight remains in place.
The government’s Responsible AI Advisory Panel discussed the need for effective coordination across Whitehall at its latest meeting in September as departments expand their use of the technology.
Narayan has nevertheless made expanding adoption a central part of his brief, arguing that Britain should develop and deploy advanced AI rather than allow the next technological shift to happen elsewhere.