Three researchers named as new Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellows

Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Professor Stefanos Zafeiriou, and Professor Steve Benford join a growing cohort of Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellows.

Wednesday 23 Oct 2024

Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Professor Stefanos Zafeiriou, and Professor Steve Benford have been awarded UKRI Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowships. 

The Turing AI Fellowships are a substantial government investment created as part of the AI Sector Deal’s ambitious skills and talent package aimed at retaining, attracting and developing the best and brightest AI international researchers. Fellows from a wide variety of disciplines undertake world-leading creative and innovative AI research, working in collaboration with partners from other sectors to accelerate the impact of their research. 

The Turing AI fellowship programme is delivered by EPSRC on behalf of UKRI in partnership with The Alan Turing Institute and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane said: “To ensure that we capitalise on the enormous potential of AI and also ensure that it serves the needs of society we need to support bold thinking.  

“That is what the UKRI Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowships are all about, allowing adventurous thinkers from the UK and across the world to thrive and develop ideas that will benefit us all.”  

The three new fellows are the latest leading AI researchers to be supported through the Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowships initiative.  

Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy (University of Edinburgh) is developing assistive autonomous systems that are person-centred and adaptable to individual users. These systems could be applied in areas such as personal care, autonomous surgery, and automated driving. 

Professor Stefanos Zafeiriou (Imperial College London) is enhancing smart assistants' ability to process and work with complex data. His research includes creating normative data to assist doctors with surgery planning, cancer diagnosis, and predicting climate change. 

Professor Steve Benford (University of Nottingham) is combining art and AI to explore how technology can help humans make sense of the world. His work, through artistic collaborations, investigates how AI systems can embrace ambiguity, require interpretation, and use failure as a source of creativity. 

Current Turing AI Fellows include Professor Michael Wooldridge who brought AI to the public eye through the 2023 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, while Professor Mirella Lapata, star of a 2023 Turing Lecture, established the Generative AI Laboratory to ensure that generative AI benefits society and stimulates economic growth.