The UK’s national showcase for AI and data science, AI UK 2025, has opened with talks from leading experts across academia, and industry as well policymakers, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI.
Hosted by the Alan Turing Institute and taking place at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, the two-day event facilities crucial discussions, showcases new research and provides the opportunity to take part in interactive demonstrations.
The programme is structured around the latest innovations from across the AI ecosystem with a broad range of interactive content covering the latest thinking on topics including fundamental AI, digital twins, algorithmic bias and AI ethics.
In the opening speech by Feryal Clark, Minister for AI and Digital Government, she reflected on how technology has changed in a short period. “My phone is my personal assistant, my concierge, my navigator. We are living in a time where 90% of the world’s data was created in the last two years, when AI is no longer the stuff of film directors’ dreams but a practical tool changing our lives day to day, scanning for diseases in hospitals or helping teachers plan lessons. When governments are seizing the opportunity to change how we operate too.”
She added: “The UK’s legacy is one of leadership, but we are not content to let a legacy remain just that. To reap the rewards, academia industry and the public sector must work together in forums like this to solve our most pressing challenges and the government must give you the tools to make that changes possible. That’s why in January the PM launched the AI opportunities action plan. It sets out how we’ll unlock the economic growth that AI promises.”
In her opening speech, Dr Jean Innes, CEO at the Alan Turing Institute, said: “We are living in a new age: the age of algorithms. And anybody coming to AI UK understands they’re all around us. History teaches us that when a technological revolution shakes the economy and generates huge potential, opportunities and risks, a disruptive and difficult process of learning and adaption must take place over decades to realise the full potential of the new technology. We are at an early stage of this process and the choices we make now will define our social and economic prosperity for years to come.”
She also reflected on the UK’s combination of strengths to be successful in this area including the country’s world leading university researchers, startups, scale ups and innovative large companies. She also highlighted the country’s role as Europe’s leading venture capital market and a global financial centre with a track record of leading innovation in both computer hardware and software. She said the country has a strong civil society tradition in order to ensure we use these technologies in the right as well our citizens who embrace these technologies.
“Realising the UK’s AI potential will require a sustained and collective effort nationally and internationally and that’s why coming together as an AI and data science community really matters – to learn and debate and to generate new ideas and new collaborations to shape our AI future,” she said.
Looking to the future, she said: “If we get this right, putting AI to work responsibly and ambitiously we will see the rewards over decades to come. Not just economic growth and improved public services but transforming our economy and society to prosper in the age of algorithms. And not just to contribute, but to lead the way.”
