UK ranks fourth in Commonwealth AI youth index, lowest top-ten score for AI use

Britain ranks fourth among the Commonwealth's 56 countries for preparing young people to benefit from artificial intelligence, according to a privately funded index published on Thursday, which also calculates that AI could leave the UK economy about £95 billion larger after ten years.

The Ayre Index, produced by the Ayre Think Tank founded by the Antiguan-Canadian businessman Calvin Ayre, gives the UK 70.8 out of 100, behind Singapore, Malta and Australia and ahead of Canada, New Zealand and India. The the index was launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, which closed on 4 November.

The findings land weeks after ministers published the Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan, which committed industry partners to more than 10,000 work experience, placement and learning opportunities and set a target for the TechFirst programme to reach one million school students by 2028. The index credits Britain with strong foundations but says its young people are among the least likely in the leading group to put AI to practical use.

Britain scores 9.3 out of 10 for meaningful access to technology and 8.9 for digital, data, media and AI capability, the think tank says. But it scores 4.7 out of 10 for purposeful AI use and creation, the lowest of the ten highest-ranked countries, and 5.5 for education and training against Singapore's 7.8.

The report says 31.5 per cent of young respondents in one survey examined by the researchers reported using AI for their studies. It also says 17.4 per cent of 15-year-olds surveyed said their school lessons often involved assessing information produced by AI chatbots, the lowest share among the countries examined, and cites separate research finding that 35 per cent of secondary teachers in England had received training in generative AI by early 2025. The underlying surveys have all been included in the white paper, and range from organisations such as the Commonwealth, the UN, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mr Ayre, founder of the Ayre Think Tank, said: "I've spent my life in businesses where new technology changes everything, and I know you can't stand still. AI is going to change how we work, how we do business and how wealth is created. But this is not a race that only the biggest or richest countries can win. What matters is giving young people the skills and the chance to get ahead – whether to start businesses, find jobs or build something for themselves. Some Commonwealth countries are ahead, others have catching up to do. Nobody can afford to be complacent. That's why we created this Index. It shows countries where they stand, what they're getting right and where they need to do better. Governments now have to decide what they're going to do about it."

The £95 billion figure, which the think tank says is the largest potential gain of any Commonwealth country, is a calculation rather than a forecast. Researchers applied the IMF's low and high ten-year estimates for broad economic groups to World Bank figures for UK GDP in 2025, producing a range of £48.1 billion to £141.2 billion and taking the midpoint. The think tank's own notes say the figures describe a possible effect on the level of GDP after a decade, not annual or accumulated gains, and do not show how much young people would receive.

The ranking are built upon large datasets of more than 102 indicators grouped into seven equally weighted pillars, with each country scored only on the pillars for which it has usable data. An AI model scored the indicators against a fixed rubric, and a second scoring run produced the same result in 1,848 of 1,854 cases, the think tank says. The UK has usable values for 84 of the 102 indicators, among the highest coverage in the study.

Only 15 countries reach the study's readiness benchmark of 53 points, which the think tank describes as a comparative research measure rather than an IMF threshold. Australia's score of 71.0 puts it 0.2 points ahead of the UK, with Canada 0.6 behind on 70.2.

Professor C. Justin Robinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of the University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus, said: "We need to make sure that the next generation will be able to do more than just consume AI products made elsewhere. Access must come with its own agency and a real equitable stake in how these systems are governed. Young people should be equipped to question these new tools, to improve them and to be supported in building alternatives suited to their own needs. Whether that happens, however, will depend on choices made now. This index gives us a clearer view of where those choices are most urgent. We should use it."

The white paper reviewed 1,128 sources covering about 732 million people aged 15 to 29 across the Commonwealth, and that its data and calculation code are published alongside the index.

Mr Ayre built his fortune in online gambling through Bodog and now runs the Calvin Ayre Foundation, a charity based in Antigua and Barbuda.