The Manx government is establishing a new office dedicated to maximizing the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI) and proactively managing its potential risks.

Plans for an office for AI development and regulation, which would also help to digitise public services as part of a push to deliver £50m of savings over five years, were announced at the annual Government Conference.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said capabilities of AI would “significantly challenge the status quo” and those who were “unprepared” would “struggle to remain competitive”.

The office would be designed to “seize the economic opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) and respond to the challenges it presents”, he said.

In his opening address at the 2025 conference at the Comis Hotel, in Santon, Cannan said: “Other nations are starting to move forward and we need to catch up.”

The island “must move quickly” with public and private sectors working “in lockstep”, he said.

A new office, set to launch before the end of the year, will serve as a collaborative hub for government and business, an official announced. Its primary function will be to coordinate and advance the island’s strategic response to the evolving artificial intelligence revolution.

Cannan said the island would “need to look at skills and training” as part of the move to harness the technology.

A “growing demand”for governments to regulate AI would also need to be “considered responsibly” as it could create opportunities for the island’s economy, he said.

The EU’s recent Artificial Intelligence Act was an “indication of where things may be heading” and the Isle of Man would “inevitably have to consider its position”, he added.

Other issues on the agenda at the conference are set to include balancing healthcare needs costs and capacity, managing migration and national air and sea connectivity ambitions.