AI coding assistants save UK government workers 28 working days a year, claims government

AI coding assistants are saving UK government workers 28 working days a year, the government claims, as it looks to leverage AI to save £45bn across the public sector. AI coding assistants are becoming increasingly common in the private sector, and the UK government is hoping to use them to make billions in savings across government departments.

New trial results from the UK government show that government coders and tech engineers have saved almost an hour a day by using AI assistants to help them write code and build new technology. This is equivalent to 28 working days a year, the government said.

The trial involved more than 1,000 tech experts using AI coding assistants across 50 different government departments. They used coding assistants such as Microsoft GitHub Copilot and Google Gemini Code Assist. It helped them build more tech like Whitehall’s Humphrey AI assistant and healthcare tech, the UK government said.

The government said savings from the AI assistants mostly came from using them to write first drafts of code that experts then edit, or using them to review existing code. It said just 15 per cent of code generated by the AI coding assistants was used without any edits.

The results show that 72 per cent of users said the tools offered good value, while over half ( 58 per cent), said they would prefer not to return to working without AI assistance, whilst 65 per cent reported completing tasks faster and 56 per cent said they could solve problems more efficiently.

Technology Minister Kanishka Narayan said: ”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.”