David Silver thinks games are the key to creativity. After competing in national Scrabble competitions as a kid, he went on to study at Cambridge and co-found a video game company. Later, after earning his PhD in artificial intelligence, he led the DeepMind team that developed AlphaGo--the first program to beat a world champion at the ancient Chinese game of go. But he isn't driven by competitiveness. That's because for Silver, now a principal research scientist at DeepMind and computer science professor at University College London, games are playgrounds in which to understand how minds--human and artificial--learn on their own to achieve goals. Silver's programs use deep neural networks--machine learning algorithms inspired by the brain's structure and function--to achieve results that resemble human intuition and creativity.

A new Centre at the University of Cambridge will develop artificial intelligence techniques to help address some of the biggest threats facing the planet. Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Centre for Doctoral Training in Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER) is one of 16 new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) announced today. The Cambridge Centre will be led by Professor Simon Redfern, Head of the Department of Earth Sciences. Climate risk, environmental change and environmental hazards pose some of the most significant threats we face in the 21st century. At the same time, we have increasingly larger datasets available to observe the planet, from the atomic scale all the way through to global satellite observations.

Redfern will serve as the head of Cambridge's Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER), which will share a total of $260 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with 15 other newly announced AI-focused CDTs. According to UKRI's funding announcement, AI4ER will focus on the development of "new methods to exploit AI's potential to analyse complex environmental data and thus help plan sustainable pathways to the future." UKRI cites climate change, a growing population, and shrinking biodiversity as a few of the risks the students will address with their studies. As for the specific types of projects Cambridge expects AI4ER students to undertake, the university notes several ongoing projects similar in scope, including ones focused on using AI to understand earthquake risk and monitor active volcanos. The answers to our greatest environmental problems could be hidden within the massive troves of data we can collect from the world around us.

Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Centre for Doctoral Training in Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER) is one of 16 new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) announced today. The Cambridge Centre will be led by Professor Simon Redfern, Head of the Department of Earth Sciences. Climate risk, environmental change and environmental hazards pose some of the most significant threats we face in the 21st century. At the same time, we have increasingly larger datasets available to observe the planet, from the atomic scale all the way through to global satellite observations. "These datasets represent a transformation in the way we can study and understand the Earth and environment, as we assess and find solutions to environmental risk," said Redfern.