Sir Tony Blair has urged Britain to welcome AI medical professionals and nurses as he said the world was 'in the foothills' of the biggest tranformation because the Industrial Revolution.

The former prime minister declared AI might have an 'absolutely transformative' effect on public services by making them better, cheaper and more efficient.

He stated, if he was in power today, he would be thinking of 'how you the entire federal government around how you embrace and access this transformation'.

The ex-Labour premier laid out how 'all the routine tasks' in Whitehall might be maximized by technology.

Sir Tony stated it was 'unreasonable' the UK had not yet made NHS information available to harness development.

He likewise delivered a withering verdict on the civil service, declaring it was a 'conspiracy for inertia' with a 'genius for absorbing the inspiration for change and suffocating it'.

A current Government experiment with AI - involving 20,000 civil servants throughout 12 major organisations - saved officials approximately 26 minutes a day.

It demonstrated how AI tools might free up Whitehall staff from 'repeated administrative tasks' and provide greater worth for British taxpayers.

Sir Tony Blair declared AI could have an 'absolutely transformative' effect on civil services by making them better, cheaper and more effective

The former PM advised Britain to embrace AI physicians and nurses as he said the world was 'in the foothills' of the most significant tranformation since the Industrial Revolution

Speaking at the SXSW celebration in London, Sir Tony stated: 'We're in the foothills of the most transformative revolution because the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.

'Government's everything about process, so you might use AI to speed up the process of the federal government, making sure that we do, for instance, all the regular tasks of federal government a lot more effectively.

'You might be reacting to individuals in a far more sensitive, much faster, much better, more efficient way.

'If, for example, you have the ability to combine data sets throughout departments, you're going to save cash.

'You're going to evaluate, based upon health information, in a manner that permits you to make much better health policy.

'And after that, when you look in public services, you should have the ability to customise education in the future.