The British government has just published a list of AI rules for its employees, encouraging an environment-conscious attitude towards the use of AI, one that albeit seeks to place sustainability concerns over productivity-related considerations.
The UK government’s “Use AI Sustainably” guidelines want you to eschew an AI model if a spreadsheet can do the same work, or use the smallest available model
BREAKING: the UK government publishes official rules on how to use AI:
1. Ask first if you really need to use AI
2. Check if a spreadsheet can do the job before using AI
3. Choose the worst model possible so it uses less energy
4. Keep prompts short to reduce the… pic.twitter.com/Mi4br4PTyu
— Matthias Schmidt (@eurofounder) September 25, 2026
The British government has just published draft guidelines on the sustainable use of AI, requiring employees to eschew the use of AI models if a more traditional software solution, such as a spreadsheet, can do the same work.
Absurdly enough, when the use of AI models becomes imperative, the guide wants all employees to pick the smallest possible model. Of course, smaller models have a higher propensity to hallucinate, which would in theory negatively impact the quality of the output.
The guide also encourages short and as few as possible prompts, which again negatively affects the quality of the output.
On a more philosophical plane, these guidelines appear to be treating AI as a fad, one that reeks of an underlying “follower” mentality on technology. It is hardly a surprise, therefore, that there really is no frontier-class British or European AI model.
And, of course, placing environmental considerations over those related to productivity is exactly the course of action that the UK government should pursue to dig itself out of its prevalent economic malaise (sarcasm).
To be clear up front, I’m bullish the AI infra buildout and very pro all-of-the-above power and grid investment. My issue is underwriting the delivery schedules embedded in some of these GW forecasts.
Capitalism incentivizes the capex, supply-chain expansion and workarounds that… https://t.co/FIHjLD8P04 pic.twitter.com/5rm9zicT0Y
— Shanu Mathew (@ShanuMathew93) September 27, 2026
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the US appears to be going all-in on AI, with data center net additions in America jumping to ~38 GW in 2027 (vs. just ~10 GW in 2025), of which only ~22 GW is built or under construction and ~16 GW remains in the planning stage.
Also, incremental data center-related power demand for 2026-2028 is expected at 97 GW, countered by 19 GW of available/contractable grid capacity and another 21GW of power facilities under construction.
Even so, the US still faces a residual power gap of around 33 GW – as per the mid-point of the range of figures furnished by Morgan Stanley – after factoring in ~19 GW of new behind-the-meter turbines and engines and ~6 GW of Bloom fuel cells.
Contrast this relentless pace of buildout in the US with the UK’s casual attitude on AI, and it is hardly a surprise that the British economy is stuck in the proverbial doldrums.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025.
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