Both the UK’s private sector and the government have significantly added funding to a £1 billion deal that aims to propel this country to the front of the artificial intelligence queue.
Nearly £300 million from well over 50 tech firms will be combined with a thousand new artificial intelligence PhDs funded by the government.
This comes a week after the European Commission asked EU member states to invest €20 billion in AI to catch up with the US and China in the AI race.
It also follows a House of Lords report with suggestions on what needs to be done for the UK if it wanted to become an international leader in the field of AI. According to the report, this country is in a unique position to help create the future of AI, but it needs an ethical code that benefits humanity.
The latest government/private sector initiative was unveiled by Business Secretary Greg Clark and Digital Secretary Matt Hancock last week. It includes over £300 million in government funds for AI research. The British government wants the country to seize the £232 billion opportunity that AI offers the UK economy by 2030.
Private sector investments include Japanese venture capital company Global Brain investing £35 million in British deep-tech start-ups and opening its first European head office in Britain; Chrysalix, a venture capital company from Canada, opening its European headquarters in the UK and investing as much as £110 million in robotics and AI; the University of Cambridge launching a new £10 million AI supercomputer and opening its infrastructure to the business community; and Rolls-Royce and the Alan Turing Institute jointly conducting AI research.
Hancock said: “Artificial Intelligence is at the centre of our plans to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business. We have a great track record and are home to some of the world’s biggest names in AI like Deepmind, Swiftkey and Babylon, but there is so much more we can do.”
The British government hopes to turn the country into a world-class AI research hub by investing in sophisticated postgraduate expertise. This includes providing funds to train around 8,000 expert computer science teachers and a thousand artificial intelligence PhDs over the next seven years. Also, there are plans to establish an influential international Turing Fellowship programme to lure and hold onto the top AI talent.
This will ensure that all secondary schools have a qualified GCSE computer science teacher.
Accountancy company Sage has also undertaken a project which will see them deliver an AI pilot programme that will benefit 150 young individuals throughout Britain.
Industry players have generally welcomed the deal. Vectra EMEA Director Matt Walmsley said that the focus on AI investment was a constructive move not only for the UK but also for the whole of Europe.
Walmsley said: “Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and will touch many parts of our working and private lives. It is yet to become truly autonomous in the workplace, but its deployment is already increasingly common in areas like decision support.”
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