Mind The AI Gap

AI is no longer a distant frontier. It's in our phones, our job applications, our GP surgeries, our energy bills. It's reshaping how businesses operate, how public services are delivered, and how people find work. The question is no longer whether it will change our communities, it's whether everyone gets to be part of that change. Right now, the answer is: not nearly enough of us.

The UK Government has set a target of upskilling 10 million workers in AI by 2030. Major consultancies report that AI users complete tasks 25% faster with 40% higher quality - and crucially, the biggest gains go to those who start with the weakest skills. Research from Harvard Business School and BCG found a 43% quality improvement among lower performers when they were given access to AI tools. This isn't a technology that only benefits the already-privileged. It's one that could genuinely level the playing field if people are given the chance to use it.

But that chance isn't arriving equally. The British Chambers of Commerce found that while 54% of UK firms now use AI in some form, adoption among smaller, consumer-facing businesses — the backbone of most British high streets — lags far behind. The barriers are familiar: lack of expertise, cost, and uncertainty about where to start. For SMEs and voluntary organisations without in-house tech teams, AI can feel like something happening elsewhere, to other people.

The picture for individuals is just as stark. Eight million UK adults lack basic digital skills. 1.6 million live entirely offline. Those most affected are older people, disabled people, those on low incomes, and residents of coastal communities - groups already facing compounding disadvantage. As public services move online and AI becomes embedded in everyday transactions, digital exclusion increasingly means economic exclusion.

In a recent episode of The We Society podcast, Imogen Parker of the Ada Lovelace Institute made a compelling case for why this matters so urgently. The Ada Lovelace Institute's research shows that the public aren't resistant to AI - they want it to work in their interests, to be properly governed, and to come with genuine protections. But half of those surveyed said they don't feel their values are represented in decisions being made about AI. There's a growing sense that AI is something being done to communities, not with them. It’s a trust issue.

This is where local action becomes vital. Towns that equip their residents and businesses now through practical workshops, accessible training, device access schemes, and trusted community-led support will capture the productivity gains and the new jobs. Those that wait risk watching opportunity pass them by while better-connected places surge ahead. It then becomes a ‘place management’ issue.

The good news is that AI tools are increasingly affordable, the Government's AI Skills Hub is free, and community organisations are perfectly placed to deliver the kind of trusted, human-first support that makes the difference. What's needed is the will to start - and the recognition that AI literacy isn't a luxury for the tech-savvy. It's becoming as fundamental as reading and writing.

Every community deserves to be part of this moment. Not watching from the sidelines, but shaping it.