Edinburgh University will establish two new AI research hubs launched by the UK Government today in an £80 million funding round supporting advanced tech.
The university will set up the AI Hub for Productive Research and Innovation in Electronics (APRIL) alongside the AI Hub for Causality in Healthcare AI with Real Data (CHAI).
APRIL will focus on developing AI tools to accelerate the development of key components such as new semiconductor materials, 复杂的微芯片设计和系统架构-导致更快, cheaper, 更环保，整体更节能的电子产品.
It will be led by Edinburgh’s Regius Chair of Engineering, Professor Themis Prodromakis.
CHAI aims to develop AI that can empower decision making tools to improve challenging tasks such as the early prediction, 诊断和预防疾病, 而且——至关重要的是——提高这类技术在医疗保健领域的安全性. It will be led by Professor Sotirios Tsaftaris, Canon Medical/RAEng Chair in Healthcare AI.
彼得·马西森教授, 爱丁堡大学校长兼副校长, said: “Successful and ethical applications of AI in healthcare diagnosis and power-efficient electronics could help to address key societal issues, 比如我们的人口老龄化, 全球能源使用和气候变化.
“It is an honour and a great opportunity for our engineers to be leading two of EPSRC’s AI research hubs and I very much look forward to seeing what the future brings in terms of new technologies and innovations in AI.”
Both hubs will receive £12m each from the EPSRC and will involve researchers from the University’s School of Informatics, 数学学院, the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine with input from the Bayes Centre – the University’s innovation hub for data science and AI. Edinburgh experts will also play key roles in two other AI hubs announced by the government.
The university will benefit to the tune of £24 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Of the nine centres announced as part of EPSRC’s £80m UK-wide investment in applying AI to real world data and research, 爱丁堡将领导或参与一半以上的改革, further cementing its place as a driving force in the development of AI in the UK.
Other Scottish universities will also benefit A further ten scoping studies have been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), 也是UKRI的一部分. 这些研究将有助于在整个教育领域定义负责任的人工智能, 警务和创意产业. The University of Glasgow will lead on ‘iREAL: inclusive requirements elicitation for AI in libraries to support respectful management of indigenous knowledges, 特别是澳大利亚的土著和托雷斯海峡岛民社区.’
The University of the West of Scotland and St Andrews University will support led by Newcastle University as the ‘national edge AI hub for real data: edge intelligence for cyber-disturbances and data quality’.
集体, the hubs will support British AI expertise in harnessing the technology across areas including healthcare, chemistry, 和数学.
Ministers announced a £100 million package of measures to ‘propel transformative innovations’ in the technology, 支持区域研究，支持“敏捷”监管.
The measures were unveiled as part of the UK Government’s AI Regulation White Paper consultation response, 旨在使英国成为人工智能安全领域的全球领导者.
Michelle Donelan, secretary of state for science, innovation, and technology, said:
“The UK’s innovative approach to AI regulation has made us a world leader in both AI safety and AI development.
“I am personally driven by AI’s potential to transform our public services and the economy for the better – leading to new treatments for cruel diseases like cancer and dementia, and opening the door to advanced skills and technology that will power the British economy of the future.
“人工智能正在快速发展，但我们已经证明，人类也可以同样快速发展. 通过采取敏捷的, 专业的方法, 我们已经开始立即控制风险, which in turn is paving the way for the UK to become one of the first countries in the world to reap the benefits of AI safely.”
Nearly £90 million will go towards launching the nine new research hubs across the UK, 地点尚未公布, 以及在负责任的人工智能方面与美国建立伙伴关系.
In addition, £2 million of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding will support new research projects that will help to define what responsible AI across sectors such as education, 警务和创意产业.
And £19 million will go towards 21 projects to develop AI and machine learning solutions to accelerate deployment of these technologies and drive productivity. 这将通过加速可信人工智能第二阶段竞赛获得资助, 由UKRI技术任务基金支持, 并由Innovate UK BridgeAI项目提供.
The government will also be launching a steering committee in spring to support and guide the activities of a formal regulator coordination structure within government.
These measures sit alongside the £100 million invested by the government in the world’s first AI Safety Institute to evaluate the risks of new AI models, following the UK’s hosting of the world’s first major summit on AI safety at Bletchley Park in November.
Source: Futurescot