UK gov is among the ‘most prepared’ for AI revolution

The UK has retained its place among the most prepared governments to harness the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence.

An index published today, compiled by Oxford Insights in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada, places the UK as Europe’s leading nation and just second on the world stage.

Margot Editor, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said:

"I'm delighted the UK government has been...

21 May 2019 | Europe

Tencent is bullish on British AI startup Prowler.io

Chinese technology giant Tencent has led a $100m (£78.4m) funding round for promising British AI startup Prowler.io.

Dr Ling Ge, Chief European Representative at Tencent, said:

“The UK is a global leader in AI and is increasingly becoming a focus for companies looking to invest in the sector. PROWLER.io’s data-efficient approach and focus on human-machine teaming really set it apart.

We are looking forward to PROWLER.io applying its AI decision platform to...

20 May 2019 | China

EU AI Expert Group: Ethical risks are ‘unimaginable’

The EU Commission’s AI expert group has published its assessment of the rapidly-advancing technology and warned it has “unimaginable” ethical risks.

Some of the highlighted risks includes lethal autonomous systems, tracking individuals, and ‘scoring’ people in society.

On the subject of lethal autonomous systems, the experts warn machines with cognitive skills could “decide whom, when and where to fight without human intervention”.

When it comes...

11 April 2019 | Ethics

EU Commission advances work on AI ethical guidelines

The EU Commission is advancing work on the establishment of AI ethical guidelines to ensure they can be put into practice.

A group of industry experts were appointed in 2016 to establish guidelines which ensure that AI is developed sensibly.

There are seven key pillars to the EU's ethical AI strategy:

Human agency and oversightRobustness and safetyPrivacy and data governanceTransparencyDiversity, non-discrimination, and fairnessSocietal and environmental...

8 April 2019 | Ethics

Almost half of Europe’s AI startups have no actual AI

A new report highlights many of Europe’s AI startups appear to be cashing in on the hype and have no actual AI to speak of.

The fact you can add ‘AI’, ‘IoT’, or ‘blockchain’ to your company name/description and it will skyrocket your valuation has become something of a running joke in the industry. Shares in Long Island Iced Tea, for example, infamously shot up almost 200 percent after changing its parent company name to ‘Long Blockchain Corp.’

European...

5 March 2019 | Europe

UK investment in AI startups nears the rest of Europe combined

The UK is splashing the cash on artificial intelligence startups so much that it almost totals the rest of Europe combined.

Venture capital firms invested a record $1.3bn (£998m) in UK-based AI companies last year.

The figures are provided by Dealroom and show a fourfold increase in five years. A couple of notable rounds includes $200 million for Graphcore in your humble editor’s hometown of Bristol, and $50 million for what feels like my second home of...

21 February 2019 | Europe

European AI researchers form group over falling behind fears

A group of European researchers are coming together in a bid to advance AI research over fears the continent will fall behind. The initiative will be called the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) and was launched on 6th December at the Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) meeting in Montreal, Canada. Almost 200 researchers signed an open letter published in April warning AI investment and expertise in Europe is lagging behind the likes of North...

12 December 2018 | Europe

AI-powered lie detector will question travellers at EU borders

The EU is experimenting with an AI-powered lie detector in a bid to help solve its border control problems and policing demand. For some, gaining EU citizenship is a dream as passports allow free movement between all member states. However, for those ineligible, this also makes them a prime target for criminals. Just earlier this week, Bulgarian officials were arrested for selling fake EU passports ‘to 30 people a week’ for £4,445 each. According to The Times:

1 November 2018 | Europe