A new UK AI research lab will be created to unlock breakthroughs which could transform healthcare, transport, science and everyday technology
In a tiny space of time AI has gone from being the staple of science fiction, to an everyday tool used in schools, hospitals and workplaces worldwide. That includes using it to screen patients for cancer and design better batteries.
But we are still only scratching the surface of this technology’s potential. Ambitious work that aims to solve longstanding problems in how AI works – such as hallucinations, unreliable memory and unpredictable reasoning – and to develop new approaches that could make future AI systems far more accurate, transparent and trustworthy, could make it possible for AI to do even more.
Bold, high-risk scientific work of this sort is precisely what the lab will support - backed by £40 million in UK taxpayer funding being confirmed today (Wednesday 4 March). These are efforts that often have a challenging path to success, but this is a task that the UK’s wealth of top-tier researchers are perfectly placed pursue. And with ambitions high, those ideas that do reach fruition could be gamechangers.
By addressing these challenges head on, the lab will lay the foundations for AI that supports earlier medical diagnoses, more resilient infrastructure, faster scientific discovery and better day to day tools for people and public services. The work will rethink how AI tools are built, rather than simply scaling up existing systems and training them on more data, opening the door to new capabilities that don’t exist yet.
The UK is uniquely placed to lead this effort, supported by its deep pool of top-tier talent and world-leading academic institutions – as well as a thriving AI sector which has raised over £100 billion in private investment since the government took office.
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said:
Located in the UK, up to £40 million in taxpayer funding will be made available over 6 years for the Fundamental AI Research Lab, plus substantial in-kind access to AI Research Resource compute capacity worth tens of millions of pounds. This funding call is open for applications now with the UK government calling on the country’s AI experts to bring their boldest and most ambitious proposals forward.
Applications will be assessed by a peer review panel Chaired by Raia Hadsell, who is a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) AI ambassador supporting government to unlock the transformational benefits of AI for society. Raia has worked for Google DeepMind since 2014 and currently leads the company’s frontier AI efforts as a Vice President of Research.
Raia Hadsell, VP, Research at Google DeepMind and UK government AI Ambassador said:
Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director of EPSRC’s Strategy Directorate, said:
Launching this opportunity is an early first step towards delivery of the UKRI AI Strategy, unveiled less than a fortnight ago. The Strategy is UKRI’s first-ever plan to make AI deliver for UK’s cutting-edge science and research efforts, backed by a record £1.6 billion over the next 4 years.
The new strategy signals UKRI’s intention to make major investments in mathematics, computer science and engineering research which underpin AI expertise. World-class researchers and businesses across the UK will also benefit from better access to the right tools, training and infrastructure to unlock new growth across the UK.
UKRI-backed work on AI is already making a difference across society and the economy – from the world-leading RADAR AI system that detects faults on the railway network in real time, to the IXI Brain Atlas which is supporting more than 40 clinical trials into degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s by helping to analyse brain scans.