Hi Dotikers!

The UK just handed Anthropic the task of building an AI assistant to help its citizens find work. Forget the basic chatbot that misses the point: we're talking about an agentic system that can guide users step by step through administrative mazes, suggest tailored training programs, and explain which benefits they're entitled to.

This partnership brings to life a memorandum of understanding signed in February 2025. Anthropic engineers are working directly with the Government Digital Service, with one clear goal: transfer skills so the state can eventually run the system without depending on an American vendor. A pragmatic approach that stands out from the usual lock-in contracts.

The choice of Anthropic isn't random. While OpenAI cashes a $200 million contract with the Pentagon, Anthropic explicitly prohibits its models from being used for domestic surveillance. For a government looking to integrate AI into public services without triggering a privacy backlash, that signal matters.

This project fits into a bigger picture: the UK has committed £2 billion to AI for 2026-2030, and Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia invested over £31 billion in British infrastructure last year. The island clearly doesn't want to miss the boat.

The uncomfortable question remains: can we really expect an AI to understand the nuances of a messy career path, forced pivots, transferable skills we struggle to identify ourselves? Job center robot edition might need a few updates before it truly delivers.

Alexis