Foundation models, which include large language models like ChatGPT and Google Bard, are generalist AI systems that have been trained on vast data sets, and can be used for a wide range of tasks across the economy.

Able to track down and piece together relevant information for specific queries, these models are also capable of generating original content that closely mimics anything a qualified human might be able to produce.

The government hopes that the development of sophisticated AI technology could be of enormous benefit to public services.

The investment comes on top of the government’s previous £900m commitment to computing technology in 2023’s Spring Budget.

Brendan Perring, general manager of the IPIA, told Printweek the announcement was to be welcomed: “Any investment from the government that provides a wider benefit to the development of software in the UK will ultimately trickle down into the print industry.

“We’re a leading industry in terms of software development, automation and machine monitoring. On any of those counts, any advancement in artificial intelligence is certainly welcome – and can only benefit our industry.”

James Hall, technical director at web-to-print platform Vpress told Printweek the adoption of foundational AI models, especially language models like ChatGPT, would transform the direct mail industry.

Ordinarily marketers might personalise content for customers by allowing ‘smart triggers’ to select pieces of customer data for insertion in a template at certain points – as a very basic example, greeting the customer by name. 

These language model AIs would allow the industry to take a significant step forward, according to Hall, and generate thousands of completely different, wholly personalised pieces of mail, in much the same capacity as a small army of competent copywriters.

The AI, once provided with both the marketing data and templates, would be able to use these inputs to produce print-ready content, images and layout personalised exactly to that end reader – and entirely in accordance with the corporate’s brand.

Hall explained: “So if you know the person is an Elvis fan, then the content can be written in an entirely different style to someone who is a petrol head or environmentalist when selling them trainers.”

No model would be an instant success, Hall warned however: “The key to its success is training the AI on data about the company selling the product to create a content moderation process, and then feeding the results of the campaigns back into the AI so it learns what is and isn’t effective for each person.”

The mailing industry stands to gain enormously from the new technology, he added: “Print needs to be at the forefront of this revolution. 

“AI will catapult direct mail’s already high success rate of 2-5%, up towards the 20% success rate we see with highly personalised content.”

The £100m investment presents part of a wider opportunity for the UK tech sector, according to Ritam Gandhi, director and founder of Studio Graphene, a digital creative agency.

He said: “Beyond the transformative impact that the new generation of AI platforms like ChatGPT might have on how any number of businesses operate, AI represents an opportunity to encourage growth and build momentum for the UK tech sector, and hopefully, this initiative will make that possible.”

He warned, however, that consumer hesitancy to embrace AI – particularly for customer service chatbots – may present a barrier to adoption.

He said: “AI still has a long way to come, but with the commitment of the government and the focus of tech companies and startups, we may soon see further developments in generative AI models pave the way for more advanced AI systems becoming more widespread in the future.”

The government will also award a £1m prize every year for the next 10 years to researchers driving progress in critical areas of AI.