Artificial intelligence

Alan Turing first considered the question, "Can machines think?" in his seminal paper, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, published in 1950. Since that time, major advances in computer power, colossal increases in the volume of data being produced every day, and a global economy waking up to the value of data analytics have meant that artificially intelligent software and tools – ‘thinking machines’ – are everywhere: from speech recognition software and book and film recommendations, to facial recognition and medical diagnosis from images.

It is a technology which, like data science, has the potential to transform the world we live in. As innovation in AI grows, there is an opportunity – and responsibility – to ensure that artificially intelligent systems are built to contribute to the public good and to a well-functioning economy, with fairness, reliability, security, and appropriate transparency and privacy at its core.

Fundamental AI
We are undertaking research focused on understanding and advancing the models, techniques and principles that underpin AI, including foundation models and large language models.

Robotics
Addressing the unique challenges arising from the deployment of robotics and autonomous systems that aim to solve socially relevant problems across domains.

Safe and ethical AI
Building the technical foundations for the safe and ethical deployment of algorithmic systems, working in partnership with other disciplines and stakeholders.