Since the days of the Empire, Britain’s diplomats have prized themselves on using their charm, discretion and soft skills to promote the country’s interests abroad. However, it appears that such skills are no match now for an algorithm.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will instruct ambassadors to use artificial intelligence to prepare for talks and model the behaviour of Britain’s adversaries in reforms to be announced on Thursday. The measures will upend decades of diplomatic practice in the hope of modernising the department famous, fairly or not, for being Whitehall’s most traditional.

Lammy will promise that diplomats will be equipped with the latest artificial intelligence technology. Two new teams have been launched — FCDO.ai and FCDOx — to help integrate AI into the department and work with the wider technology sector.

The teams have been working on “novel technologies” to overhaul diplomatic practices. These include using AI to plan negotiation scenarios. Tools are also being designed to simulate how countries might respond to unexpected events such as natural disasters or a sharp rise in inflation, while virtual reality scenarios are being developed to help improve diplomatic and language skills.These could, for example, enable a British ambassador to be transplanted into the office of an overseas prime minister to practice their craft. It could mark an evolution in conventional schmoozing, long considered a central tenet of a diplomat’s role; soft skills could soon be honed using emerging technologies and various social situations war-gamed long before an ambassador’s drinks party has even begun. The Times understands that Lammy’s senior team has told officials that the department will also become smaller, believing that too many are now working at desks in London when their value is overseas.Lord Mandelson, the British ambassador in Washington, is known for his networking skillsWIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGESLast week Sir Keir Starmer pledged to overhaul the “flabby” civil service. Lammy will soon give diplomats targets to monitor their performance in the hope of making them more accountable.A Foreign Office source said that Lammy wanted the department to “get leaner and meaner” in pursuit of British interests overseas. To this end diplomats will not only work under new targets but will also be accountable to a new “delivery board” for trade and investment for their successes overseas.The board was inspired by the work of Michael Barber, a leading adviser under Tony Blair. Barber introduced target-based techniques to government in the former Labour prime minister’s second term and returned to advise Starmer’s government on a part-time basis last year.Lammy will tell the British Chambers of Commerce that new measures will be introduced to show that the Foreign Office can play a role in boosting Britain’s anaemic growth. A new insight service, a “Geopolitical Impact Unit”, and a centre within the British Chambers of Commerce will be established to give businesses advice, and Foreign Office staff will also have access to a secondment process with British businesses.