U.K. Launches $125 Million AI Taskforce to Accelerate AI Progress and Keep U.K. Competitive

The race to spearhead artificial intelligence technologies is not leaving any stone unturned with global tech giants and governments alike budgeting for research and other related costs. Britain is the latest country to join the AI bandwagon likely to put it head-to-head with the likes of Microsoft and Google.

UK Prime Minister Announces $125 Million AI Taskforce Funding

The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan have launched a £100 million, approximately $125 million AI Taskforce funding, geared toward accelerating the country’s research and development into the emerging technology.

This is in addition to another “£900 million for a new ‘exascale’ supercomputer and a dedicated AI Research Resource to equip the UK with the processing power it needs to support the next generation of AI innovation,” the UK government press releases stated.

UK’s AI Taskforce comes roughly a month since the country released draft artificial intelligence rules. It will ensure Britain has a strong foothold in the development of foundation models, with safety and reliability at the core.

With this fund, the UK is positioning itself as a global leader in emerging technologies, especially in the area of artificial intelligence. The initial funding will help speed up the country’s ambitious plan that was recently announced by the Prime Minister and Technology Secretary.

Modeled on the success of the Covid-19 Vaccines Taskforce, the two leaders believe the AI Taskforce will excel in building a safe environment for the use of fundamental artificial intelligence across all the sectors of the economy, and keep the UK competitive on a global scale.

Foundation models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard are a type of AI system trained extensively on colossal amounts of data, including text, images, video, and audio, to develop advanced abilities and knowledge across various tasks.

The work of the AI Taskforce is cut out and comes around the time the Prime Minister, Sunak is pushing to achieve his goal of growing the UK’s economy.
Among other things, the Taskforce will provide a framework for AI to inject billions of pounds into the UK GDP.

“By investing in emerging technologies through our new expert taskforce, we can continue to lead the way in developing safe and trustworthy AI as part of shaping a more innovative UK economy,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a Cabinet meeting last week.

Research has shown that AI models can generate better outcomes for people supported by improved service delivery. Sunak believes focusing research and development on emerging technologies like AI could triple national productivity growth rates.

The funding will help establish the UK as a leader in AI safety while supporting businesses and public trust in these systems.

UK’s AI Taskforce intends to work with stakeholders in different industries to develop scientific and commercial foundation models to create opportunities for domestic innovation.

Furthermore, the investment will build the UK’s sovereign national capabilities to benefit public services. The Taskforce will report directly to the Prime Minister and Technology Secretary and aims to launch pilots targeting public services in the next six months.

“Developed responsibly, cutting-edge AI can have a transformative impact in nearly every industry. It can revolutionize the way we develop new medical treatments, tackle climate change, and improve our public services, all while growing and future-proofing our economy,” Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said in the Cabinet meeting.

Artificial Intelligence Potential in Healthcare and Education

The United Kingdom is betting on the potential use of AI in healthcare as research has shown it can advance specific services like diagnoses, research and development, and drug discovery. In addition, AI can play an unquantifiable role in the education sector.

Since the pandemic, stakeholders in the healthcare industry are open to new technologies, AI included. Microsoft, for example, has an AI-powered notetaking tool that practitioners can tap into to ease fatigue and burnout in hospitals.

The tool is accessible via a subscription-based model, but that’s a small price to pay for improving the productivity of healthcare workers. According to Crunchbase, Abridge raised $12.5 million last year to build a similar tool to rival Microsoft’s.

AI can be tapped to help free up time for the teachers, allowing them to focus on delivering excellent teaching. Besides students are already using AI platforms to complete assignments and write essays that can subvert plagiarism software detectors.

Embracing AI in the education sector implies teachers must change how they instruct and examine students, as opposed to sidelining the technology. Some education experts see immense potential in embracing generative AI, especially in a manner that compels students to ask critical questions.

“Harnessing the potential of AI provides enormous opportunities to grow our economy, create better-paid jobs, and build a better future through advances in healthcare and security, Rishi Sunak added.

The Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Donelan stressed the need for the government “to act now to seize the opportunities AI can offer us in the future.” Leading the Taskforce in the interim is Matt Clifford, Chair of the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency. Clifford will keep the Prime Minister informed on the Taskforce progress while the appointment is ongoing.

Is UK’s $125 Million Funding Sufficient?

To answer this question, let us introduce some context. Anthropic, ChatGPT’s rival raised $124 million in its Series A funding in 2021, according to Crunchbase data.

On the other hand, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has funding going into billions of dollars that could make the UK’s allotment fade like a drop in the bucket.

Nevertheless, the United Kingdom is one of a few countries that are taking steps to regulate AI-based technologies, and this funding, although significantly small, will help put Britain on the global map and allow the public to benefit from the “transformational impact of this type of AI.”

“We congratulate the government on this exciting investment which will keep the UK at the cutting edge of this transformative technology and look forward to continuing to work with all the relevant partners to help develop breakthrough AI applications in a safe, reliable, trustworthy, and ethical way,” Doug Gurr, Chair, The Alan Turing Institute, said in a statement.

The CEO of Faculty, Marc Warner said in a related statement that AI “is an epoch-defining technology,” as long as it is deployed in a manner that takes into account the required safety standards. It has the potential to change how people work while harnessing its power to transform public services.

“To reap the rewards and manage the risks, the UK urgently needs the public and private sectors to work effectively together to seize the vast opportunities from foundational models,” Warner added. “It is welcome to see initial funding towards this goal, which will help ensure safe deployment and protect national security.”

UK’s $125 million AI Taskforce initial funding comes after Business Connect, the event that brings government agencies and industry players together for one agenda, “making Britain the most innovative economy in the world,” the press release said.

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