UK and Europe 'must join forces' on AI research despite Brexit

The UK and Europe must continue to work closely together on artificial intelligence research regardless of Brexit, according to experts, as the race for AI leadership pushes nations to form strategic alliances. Dame Wendy Hall, Regius professor of computer science at the University of Southampton, said that the strength of UK research in the field meant that the European Union could ill afford not to strike a deal on collaboration with UK universities. She argued that a common goal of developing ethical practices in both research into and the application of AI technologies would give the UK and Europe a "high ground" and position them well to compete with the US and China. "There's a whole hype-wave around AI right now and every government in the world wants to get the best of it," said Dame Wendy, who was commissioned by the government to conduct a review of the UK's policies on AI last year. "[Anyone] not in a position to seize those opportunities and develop [their] own AI sector becomes dependent on the US or China. So it's very important that we build on our fantastic 50-year legacy of British AI research."