A pilot scheme in Preston is offering "AI bootcamps" to young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neets), aiming to tackle youth unemployment by equipping them with skills employers increasingly want. The three-week, taxpayer-funded course teaches participants how to build AI tools, understand business applications of the technology, and use it responsibly, with the ultimate goal of channelling attendees into paid apprenticeships. It reflects a growing government focus on AI as both a potential threat to jobs and a tool that could help address the near one million young people currently classed as Neet in the UK.

The programme, run by IN4 Group and open to 70 participants, has secured apprenticeship partnerships with companies including JD Sports, Heinz and Agilysys, offering roles in AI marketing and IT helpdesk support. Attenders such as 18-year-old Khudeija Rafique and 17-year-old Remy Simms spoke positively about the course changing their outlook on AI. The scheme comes against a backdrop of warnings, including from former minister Alan Milburn, that Britain risks a "lost generation" without stronger action on youth unemployment, and amid uncertainty among researchers about how AI will affect non-graduate job prospects specifically.