The government has announced that the UK’s AI skills base will be “future proofed” with a £118 million boost to skills funding.
The investment includes naming a further 12 Centres for Doctoral Training in AI that will benefit from £117 million in previously announced government backing through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The government also said a new visa scheme will make it easier for businesses to bring talented AI researchers in their early careers, to the UK.
Secretary of State Michelle Donelan said the new plans “will future proof our nation’s skills base, meaning British people can reap the benefits of AI as it continues to develop. At the same time, we are moving further and faster to put the power of this technology to work for good across government and society.”
AI Safety Summit
The government is announcing its investments ahead of the AI Safety Summit, which starts Wednesday.
The further 12 new UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training in the development and application of AI will researchers to lead critical work currently being undertaken in the field of AI. The government they will specialise in areas of priority for the UK, such as healthcare, the discovery of new treatments and boosting productivity in the NHS.
Additionally, the creation of a £1 million AI Futures Grants scheme will help the next generation of AI leaders meet the costs of relocating to the UK, it said. This will support emerging AI researchers and engineers from around the world to work in UK universities, businesses and research institutes.
The government also said it has provided funding for 15 science and technology scholarships at UK universities, a £1 million grants scheme to help top AI talent relocate to the UK and piloted a new STEM Olympiad scholarship scheme ‘Backing Invisible Geniuses’.
It builds on a further £8.1 million recently announced, for postgraduate course scholarships in AI and data science.
The government disbanded the independent AI and data ethics advisory board of its Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) in September. The board was meant to oversee the responsible use of AI technologies and algorithms in public sector bodies.
