Opinion: Universities play a vital role in the future of AI

lw355 — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 09:13:37 +0000

Universities can bridge the gap between those who develop AI systems and those who will use and be affected by them. We must step up to deliver this role, say Neil Lawrence and Jess Montgomery.

Connecting AI to public benefit

lw355 — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:19:52 +0000

There’s no shortage of buzz around artificial intelligence (AI). From self-driving cars to the promise of revolutionising healthcare, AI is being hailed as the technology that will change the world around us. But what does this really mean for our everyday lives?

AI-deas: Using AI to tackle society's biggest challenges

lw355 — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Aspirations for the ability of AI to transform society couldn’t be higher. Realising this potential will require bridging the gap between AI development and public value. Cambridge's AI-deas initiative aims to do just that.

AI Hopes and Fears

cjb250 — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:09:25 +0000

Ahead of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s AI Safety Summit, members of the public are being invited to ‘hop on a bus’ in Cambridge city centre to discuss their hopes and fears about the increasing use of artificial intelligence in our lives.

Cambridge and Google partner to facilitate AI research

hcf38 — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:54:22 +0000

̽��ֱ��new multi-year research agreement creates the potential for researchers and scientists from Google and the ̽��ֱ�� to more closely collaborate on foundational AI research projects in areas of shared interest across a range of disciplines, including climate and sustainability, and AI ethics and safety.

Google has also become the first funding partner for the university’s Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence (CHIA), led by Professor Anna Korhonen, Professor Per Ola Kristensson and Dr. John Suckling, bringing together researchers and experts from computer science, engineering and multiple disciplines to develop AI that is grounded in human values and benefits humanity. Google’s unrestricted grant is helping enable the Centre’s AI research in areas like responsible AI, human-centred robotics, human-machine interaction, healthcare, economic sustainability and climate change. ̽��ֱ��donation is also funding students from underrepresented groups to carry out PhDs within the CHIA to help broaden diversity in the AI research community.

̽��ֱ��expanded partnership builds on years of collaboration between Google Research, Google DeepMind and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Google provides funding for academic research, facilitates collaboration between faculty and Google researchers, and supports exceptional computer science students through its PhD Fellowship Programme. Google DeepMind funds scholarships for students from underrepresented backgrounds studying AI-related fields, as well as a postdoctoral Fellowship, to help build a stronger and more inclusive AI community. Google DeepMind also endowed the first DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology to help drive its machine learning and artificial intelligence research.

Matt Brittin, President of Google EMEA and ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge alumnus, commented: “AI has huge potential to benefit people across the world - whether it’s through making daily life that bit easier, or by tackling some of society’s biggest challenges. It’s vital that we work together to seize this opportunity. By collaborating with one of our world-leading British academic institutions, we can enable AI research that is bold, responsible and designed to meet the needs of people across the country. This partnership also reaffirms Google’s commitment to the UK as a global AI and technology leader.”

Jessica Montgomery, Director of ai@cam, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s flagship mission on artificial intelligence, commented: “ ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge can be an engine for AI innovation and a steward of advancements in this exciting field. Translating advances in AI to benefits for science, citizens, and society requires interdisciplinary research that is deeply connected to real-word needs. ̽��ֱ��research collaboration agreement announced today will support research activities across the ̽��ֱ��. We want to leverage the world-leading expertise found across the ̽��ֱ�� to enable exciting new advances in responsible AI.”

Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, added: "Artificial intelligence can offer us enormous opportunities - growing the economy, creating new jobs and making lives longer, healthier and happier for British people. To seize those opportunities, we must bring together insights from business and academia to encourage the safe and responsible development of AI. That is why we are welcoming the partnership which Google and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have announced today.

As we prepare for next month's AI Safety Summit, this partnership shows that the UK - home to world-leading research facilities as well as some of the biggest tech companies in the world - is perfectly placed to support the innovation that underpins this critical technology."

Professor Anna Korhonen, Director of CHIA, said: “Here at the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence our researchers are dedicated to making sure that people are put at the very heart of new developments in AI. As our first funding partner, Google has been with us from the start of our journey, helping enable the breakthrough interdisciplinary research that we do. Partnerships like this – between academia and industry – will continue to be vital for the successful development of human-inspired AI.”

Zoubin Ghahramani, VP, Research, Google DeepMind is a Professor of Information Engineering at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and has spearheaded this expanded partnership. He commented: “Google and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge share a deep commitment to developing AI responsibly, which means grounding innovation in scientific research, human values and our AI principles. We’re excited by CHIA’s potential to set new standards in responsible and human-centric AI development, and unlock AI discoveries that could benefit everyone.”

A recent report, commissioned by Google and compiled by Public First, quantified the opportunity AI presents to enhance the lives and businesses of everyone across the UK. It found AI-powered innovation could create over £400 billion in economic value for the UK economy by 2030. To ensure everyone can tap into that potential, regardless of whether they’re in higher education, Google has launched free training to offer people and businesses practical skills and knowledge to capture the benefits of AI.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Google are building on their long-standing partnership with a multi-year research collaboration agreement and a Google grant for the ̽��ֱ��’s new Centre for Human-Inspired AI to support progress in responsible AI that is inspired by and benefits people.

Cambridge FilmWorks

Research underway in the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence

How AI can help people with motor disabilities — like my cousin

“My cousin was the victim of a brutal attack, and left with life-changing injuries – but with AI technology, we aim to empower people like her.”

Aleesha Hamid, a PhD student at the Cambridge Centre for Human-Inspired AI, blogs on the Google website about why her research aims to make a real difference to people like her cousin, who was left with a traumatic brain injury and uses technology to communicate.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

AI needs to serve people, science, and society

cjb250 — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 07:00:39 +0000

Artificial intelligence offers great promise, but we must ensure it does not deepen inequalities. Professor Neil Lawrence and Jess Montgomery set out their vision for AI@Cam, a new flagship mission at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Jess Montgomery