UK pledges $126M for AI research and training

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The U.K. has joined other European countries in investing millions to prepare their citizens for the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. The country has pledged to invest over £100 million ($126 million) to establish research centers, upskill regulators and support research projects.

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, presented the government’s AI approach to parliament. Titled “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: government response,” the document delves into the U.K. government’s attempt to keep up with rapid innovations in AI in Asia and North America.

“…the UK is investing more in AI safety than any other country in the world. Today we are announcing over £100 million to help realise new AI innovations and support regulators’ technical capabilities,” the document says.

A tenth of the funds will go to upskilling regulators to handle the technology.

Despite the commitment, the U.K. is lagging behind in AI regulations. One of its initiatives to draft a code that would guide the use of copyrighted material to train AI models collapsed recently.

According to the Financial Times, the U.K.’s Intellectual Property Office had brought together industry stakeholders for the initiative, including the BBC, FT, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Google’s DeepMind (NASDAQ: GOOGL). However, they failed to reach a consensus for the voluntary code, which would have guided the controversial use of artistic material in AI. The group returned the responsibility to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

“This is a fast-moving and complicated area. It’s a tough task, and frustrating that it hasn’t been taken further by now. There are competing interests on the table. This won’t be solved overnight,” remarked one of the people involved in the initiative.

For the U.K., a wait-and-see approach is considered better than rushing to regulate AI and failing.

“The UK government will not rush to legislate, or risk implementing ‘quick-fix’ rules that would soon become outdated or ineffective,” the Department for Science Innovation and Technology said.

Aside from upskilling regulators, the U.K. government has also committed £80 million ($100 million) to establish nine new AI research centers.

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