Conference debates AI opportunities ... and threats

There was a packed house when the South West Business Council staged its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intellectual Property Conference at Exeter University.

A varied line up of speakers looked at all aspects of the vastly-evolving technology, considering the pros, the cons and the unknowns.

The Shadow Minister for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intellectual Property, Matt Rodda MP delivered the keynote address and took equations from the floor.

He said: “This should be a wonderful opportunity for the South West and the University.”

Professor Lisa Roberts, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive at University of Exeter, discussed how higher education had learned to embrace AI.

She said: "AI has the power to transform the higher education landscape. It gives unprecedented opportunities for personalised learning and .... through AI analytics educators here in Exeter will be better equipped to understand students needs... so that they can tailor the learning experience and foster an environment in which every student thrives.

"But as we'll discuss today, AI also presents challenges and I think a lot of the provisional headlines were particularly regarding academic integrity, data privacy and security, ethics and bias, and, of course, digital ethicacy.

"For example, as AI algorithms learn and evolve through data-driven training processes, they develop the intrinsic bias that is present in their training data, with the result that AI itself can reproduce human prejudice and bias.

"As with most universities, we are only at the beginning of this journey, but over the next six to 12 months we are set to see some significant developments. I think Exeter is posted to be at the leading edge of those developments."

Professor Robin L. Pierce, Professor of AI and Law at the University of Exeter, spoke about the challenges around the regulation and ethics of AI.

Meanwhile, Professor Simon Macintosh-Smith, Professor of High Performance Computing at the University of Bristol revealed how a new supercomputer set to be one of the most powerful in Europe is to be built on site there in a move to drive AI research in the UK.

The new AI Research Resource (AIRR) will 'help researchers maximise the potential of AI' and the safe use of the technology, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

It will be named Isambard-AI after the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and will be used by a wide range of organisations from across the UK to harness the power of AI, which is already the main driver of emerging technologies like big data and robotics.

The world-class AIRR cluster will vastly increase the UK’s compute capacity – essential to achieving the UK’s AI ambitions and securing its place as a world-leader in harnessing the rapidly developing technology.

It will be made up of thousands of state-of-the-art graphics processing units, or GPUs, and will be able to train the large language models that are at the forefront of AI research and development today.

The new supercomputing facility will also play a vital role in important areas such as accelerating automated drug discovery and climate research.

Other speakers included Professor Kirstine Dale, Chief AI Officer at the Met Office and Stuart Brocklehurst, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Business Engagement and Innovation at the University of Exeter.

The welcome address was delivered by Paul Coles, CEO of the South West Business Council.