Eight years ago I moved to the UK from Denmark because I believed London was the most effective city in Europe for founders to start out technology firms. I still consider that is true today: we now have a thriving academic community, a powerful technology talent and investment capital pool, and a government that recognizes the transformative power of AI.
Now greater than ever, the UK has an actual opportunity to be a world leader in the event and deployment of artificial intelligence. The National AI Strategy And the £1bn AI sector deal were positive signs. However, if we wish to stay competitive with the US and China, the UK government needs to think about updating its industrial strategy to higher support UK AI startups.
On April 16, I had the pleasure of chatting with the UK Parliament’s Economic and Trade Committee about how industrial policy might be used to construct on the UK’s strengths and competitive benefits. Here are three key measures I highlighted to the committee that might boost the UK’s AI industry.
Offer inexpensive access to computing power through GPU credits or cloud resources
Training state-of-the-art AI models requires enormous computing power in the shape of high-performance GPUs. For example, it took time 3 million GPU hours for an Nvidia A100 processor to coach Meta’s Llama 2 models. Renting the suitable cloud computing capability today would cost around $15 million to $20 million, not to say the extra storage and operational costs. These are staggering amounts that might be unaffordable for many startups, even ones like Synthesia which have reached unicorn status.
The government could offer UK AI firms loans or subsidized tariffs to access world-class cloud computing resources. However, it can be crucial to notice that this access shouldn’t be through latest supercomputers or national data centers, as nobody will use these. Instead, it must be made easy for each startup through existing cloud providers akin to Microsoft, Google or AWS. India, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates are already taking this approach and recognizing the worth of access to hardware for his or her AI ecosystems.
Open public datasets for research and development
Data is the fuel that powers large AI models. The UK has a wealth of public data assets in areas akin to healthcare, transport and climate, which might be opened as much as start-ups and researchers to develop powerful AI applications that profit the general public good.
Properly anonymized, these data sets represent a competitive advantage that the UK should exploit. For example, the NHS in England recently faced this the worst waiting times on record for cancer patients. There are a number of promising AI startups Developing tools for cancer imaging and diagnosis, in addition to computer modeling for drug design and predictive therapies, access to anonymized healthcare data could dramatically improve the accuracy of their machine learning models, leading to higher resource allocation in hospitals or faster patient diagnosis and care.
Demand the adoption of AI in all public services to create a market
If the UK government committed to adopting AI in areas akin to healthcare, education or smart city operations, it will create an integrated market and use cases for startups to develop modern solutions. This would stimulate further investment and create a virtuous cycle of AI growth and public impact.
In the US, President Biden directed all federal agencies to appoint senior AI officials to oversee the federal government’s development and deployment of AI. The UK government could go further and set specific targets and metrics for AI use across its departments, creating sustained and consistent demand that might motivate the private and public sectors to work together more efficiently.
To its credit, the UK government has to date taken a balanced and pragmatic approach to AI, including proposing regulation that focuses on managing real risks and promoting socially useful innovations. Rather than preemptively banning certain applications of AI or getting lost in pointless debates about existential risks, the UK’s AI regulatory proposals aim to develop guardrails and best practices in areas akin to transparency, human oversight and ethical considerations.
This measured approach, which embraces each innovation and responsible development, is prudent. It recognizes that AI is just too powerful a chance to waste with too drastic limitations. At the identical time, proactive governance is required to construct trust and be sure that AI systems remain consistent with our existing laws and ethical values.
Every day I’m fortunate to talk with business leaders all over the world, from small business owners to Fortune 100 executives, who’re excited about adopting AI at scale of their organizations. We can all agree that AI will fundamentally transform every industry and economic sector, from healthcare and scientific research to transportation, manufacturing and education. This, in turn, will boost economic growth, create latest jobs and improve living standards for the nations on the forefront of the worldwide AI revolution.
By investing in inexpensive computing power, unlocking data assets and creating a sturdy marketplace for AI services, the UK can establish itself as a real AI superpower. With balanced regulation and ecosystem support, UK AI startups and entrepreneurs can cement the UK’s status as a worldwide leader on this transformative technology.
Victor Riparbelli is CEO and co-founder of Synthesia.
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