INDUSTRY // Gov. tech
Government coders using AI to each save 28 days a year and build more tech
AI assistants are saving government coders the equivalent of 28 working days a year – almost an hour every day – according to new trial results.
The boost in efficiency has enabled more than 1,000 developers to build technology such as Whitehall’ s Humphrey AI assistant and healthcare tools, helping to improve public services and boost productivity as part of the Plan for Change.
AI assistants could help the government build the technology it needs more quickly, targeting £ 45 billion in savings to the taxpayer by making the public sector more efficient.
The trial found widespread satisfaction, with 72 % of users saying the tools offered good value for their organization. Over half of participants – 58 % – said they would prefer not to return to working without AI assistance, while 65 % reported completing tasks faster and 56 % said they could solve problems more efficiently.
President of Google Cloud EMEA Tara Brady said:“ We are thrilled to see the positive impact Gemini Code Assist has had on government developers, enabling them to accelerate innovation and deliver better public services more efficiently.
“ This landmark trial, the largest of its kind for Gemini Code Assist in the UK public sector, underscores the transformative potential of AI in enhancing productivity and problemsolving for coding professionals and highlights the successful collaboration stemming from Google Cloud’ s Strategic Partnership Agreement with the UK government.”
The trial forms part of the government’ s wider Artificial Intelligence strategy to increase AI adoption across the public sector, ensuring Britain remains at the forefront of innovation while delivering benefits for citizens through improved public services. p
Time savings largely came from using AI to draft code for engineers to edit, or to review existing code. Only 15 % of AI-generated code was used without edits, showing that developers were checking and correcting AI output where needed.
Technology Minister Kanishka Narayan said:“ For too long, essential public services have been slow to use new technology – we have a lot of catching up to do. These results show that our engineers are hungry to use AI to get that work done more quickly and know how to use it safely.
“ This is exactly how I want us to use AI and other technology to make sure we are delivering the standard of public services people expect – both in terms of accuracy and efficiency. With a £ 45 billion jackpot at stake, it’ s not an opportunity we can pass up, as it can help cut backlogs and save money.”
Developers and engineers across 50 government departments trialed AI coding assistants from Microsoft, GitHub Copilot and Google Gemini Code Assist.
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