Barnsley care staff, builders and women returning to work to get AI training
Four local projects share more than £800,000 from the AI Upskilling Challenge Fund, a pilot ministers hope could be copied across the country.
Four training schemes in Barnsley have been awarded more than £800,000 between them to teach people how to use artificial intelligence in their day-to-day jobs, the government announced on Tuesday 3 November.
The money comes from the AI Upskilling Challenge Fund and is part of Barnsley's Tech Town programme. The town was named the UK's first Tech Town in February as a testing ground for using AI in public services, local firms and job hunting.
The four projects
- Barnsley College will take mobile AI training units to hospital and social care staff and into the wider community, running taster sessions.
- Atheni will work with 140 people, most of them aged 40 or over, at six manufacturing, engineering and construction firms. The training is built around each company's own documents, to help with quotes, tenders and safety paperwork.
- Fossu (Ignite AI), with Barnsley YMCA, Postnatal Minds and the Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, will run challenge programmes and buildathons for 100 residents, aimed at women going back to work and young people.
- Optimise Cyber Solutions, working with Abbeydale Training, will help 20 small businesses start using AI safely.
The government said projects that work in Barnsley could become a model for the rest of Britain.
Other Tech Town schemes are already running in the town. The AI Career Launchpad at Barnsley College offers six months of training with paid work placements, a Getting Job Ready with AI pilot helps jobseekers with applications and interviews, and Barnsley Hospital is testing whether AI can cut missed appointments and paperwork.
Nationally, the government's AI Skills Boost aims to give 10 million workers key AI skills by 2030. The Budget also set aside £30 million for three Yorkshire mayors to roll out AI in their areas.
