The UK’s AI talent race just stepped up a gear
Technology has the power to improve lives and tackle the great challenges of our time.
At the University of Exeter, for example, Tim Dodwell is about to start a five-year project looking into how technology can make the aviation industry more sustainable and safer.
He is one of the first five recipients of a new government fund for research fellowships into artificial intelligence (AI). His work will focus on how we can use machine learning and data processing to understand complex mathematical problems and build lighter and faster aircraft.
The UK is the birthplace of AI, and it is fitting that these new fellowships are named after the man credited with inventing machine learning: Alan Turing.
I believe that Turing would champion the successes of technology, and in particular British digital leadership and our place as the birthplace of the World Wide Web. But he would surely also want to know that these revolutionary inventions were improving the lot of humanity.
To make sure that we are at the forefront of global technological development, carving ourselves out as a pioneer in its ethical evolution, another name confirmed today as a prestigious Turing AI fellow is Maria Liakata.
Her work at the University of Warwick will look at the impact of social media on mental health, helping doctors support their patients’ needs. She will investigate how the daily use of digital technologies such as social media can affect people’s mood and cognition.
Alongside new money for research fellowships – backed by the Alan Turing Institute and UK Research and Innovation – we are today announcing a bumper investment in skills training to attract, nurture and retain the best talent so that we can lead the world in research and development.
This £370m package of government and industry investment includes funding to help 14 universities and 300 businesses, such as AstraZeneca, Google, Rolls-Royce and NHS Trusts, support and train 200 AI PhD students across 16 new centres for doctoral training.
Bioscience also has a critical role to play in protecting populations from environmental changes and underpins sectors such as farming, food supply and pharmaceuticals, so £170m will go to support for 1,700 bioscience PhD researchers across the country.
As the global population grows, these researchers will find innovative ways to feed nine billion people sustainably by 2050 – developing renewable, low-carbon sources of energy, transport fuels and chemicals to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and helping people stay healthier for longer.
We are also investing £13m in masters programmes so more people can develop fruitful careers in AI. This is supported by leading technology companies such as DeepMind, QuantumBlack and Amplyfi.
Graduates will be able to apply for new conversion courses regardless of whether they studied a science, maths or technology subject at undergraduate level. Many of the first cohort of students will today gather in London to launch the programme with academics and firms working on the scheme.
There are fantastic opportunities in technology, and they should be for everyone. And so we are also launching a new £10m fund for scholarships for students from underrepresented communities, particularly female, disabled and black students, and funding AI and data science conversion courses for those who want to take a new direction in their careers.
The UK has a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s greatest and earliest pioneers in artificial intelligence technology. Today’s funding announcement shows how we are making sure we have the talent for it to continue.
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