Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live, work, travel, and do business. The expertise of British AI companies, some of the world's most innovative, contributes significantly to this increase in global economic growth and productivity. Recently, Tech Nation, the leading growth platform for UK tech companies, released data on the growth of the AI tech ecosystem in the UK. According to this new data, the UK is now home to over 1,300 AI companies, up from 180 companies in 2011, representing a 600% increase. AI companies are scaling across all regions of the UK, with 50% of the top scaling AI companies being outside of London with Cambridge and Edinburgh being major hubs. Furthermore, Venture Capital investment into UK AI companies also rocketed from $120 million in 2010 to $3.4 billion in 2020.

Artificial Intelligence is considered one of the most revolutionary developments in the history of technology. Within a few years, the world has already witnessed the transformative capabilities of this tech. Not to our surprise, AI is already driving several innovations and powering some of the most cutting-edge everyday solutions. Already, a captivating conversation is taking place about the future of artificial intelligence and what it will/should mean for humanity. There are stirring controversies where the world's leading experts disagree such as AI's future impact on the job market; what will happen if human-level AI will be developed, will it lead to an intelligence explosion, and whether we should welcome or fear this advancement.

Investment in deep tech startups is increasing year on year, as per a recent report. This trend clearly indicates that investors are drawn towards deep tech startups that can deliver notable returns over the years. Enabling such tech startups is a different deal altogether and to help accelerate their journey, a new post-seed accelerator from Cambridge named Deeptech Labs (DTL) has been launched.

AI is driving advancement in robotics and automation. It is perhaps impossible in practice to draw a clear line between AI and physical functions that AI can now manage. In the last ten years (2010-2019), industrial robots' annual installations more than tripled, reaching 381 thousand units in factories worldwide. Globally and in the UK, AI has gone through periods of development and periods of relative stagnation. However, in the longer run, the advances in symbolic programming enabled a greater understanding of high-level problem-solving intelligence, with special progress in tools and techniques to simulate or support complex expert reasoning in relatively well-structured domains – ideal for applications the workplace.

Consumers are increasingly being introduced to machine learning uses and applications, such as image recognition, self-driving cars, online fraud detection, traffic prediction, speech recognition, and product recommendations. But what is machine learning? How can people use this advanced technology in business and everyday living? What is machine learning (ML)? ML technology involves feeding a massive amount of data into a computer program, creating a model (through algorithms) to'fit' the data.

BEGIN ARTICLE PREVIEW: Teleoperated Robots, in recent years, have come to prominence in various spheres of applications like space, underwater exploration, military, and more.  Worldwide sales of service robotics exceeded $17 billion (approx £13 billion) in 2019, and this rapid and exponentially growing market is forecast to top $55 billion (approx £41 billion) by 2023, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR.org) These robots are used in two scenarios – First, in situations where it is unsafe to place a human and secondly when it is hard to program a robot to autonomously perform complex tasks. Right now, there are lots of firms working on it, and one notable startup is Extend Robotics.  Human-like, VR-controlled robotics arm at low cost Recently, Extend Robotics, UK-based tech company announced the launch of its low-cost, human-like, virtual-reality (VR)-controlled robotics arm. As per the robotic SaaS company, it has use cases in

Speaking to UKTN, Marko Hozjan, co-founder and CEO of TAIA, explains, "TAIA helps businesses translate their content more efficiently by providing professional translators with AI assistance. Files are automatically analysed and a price quote with delivery times is available in under a minute. Users can select between a range of services and delivery times to order a translation service that best fits their needs and budget. Once the project is ordered, it's automatically translated using Neural Machine Translation and prefilled with existing translations from customers' unique Translation memory. This way your projects get translated faster and more consistently with every order. Users can monitor the progress of their project in the convenient web application and easily manage all their translation needs in one place, keeping their data secure and their costs optimised."

London-based Nexus FrontierTech, an AI solutions firm specialising in modernising data-intensive processes within the regulatory and compliance realm, has announced that it has closed a $3.8 million seed round to propel its R&D and global expansion. Founded in 2015, Nexus builds configurable, scalable solutions to help businesses streamline operations and tackle the issues of inefficiency and data waste. The company also has a proprietary AI automation platform that enterprises can use to shorten the implementation cycle of production-level AI models from months to within hours. The funding round was led by a family office based in Geneva, Switzerland, followed by a number of private investors, which include Nick Fry, former CEO of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, Jennifer Lewis, former Managing Director of GIC, Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund, and Tom Yoritaka, former Managing Director of Cisco Global Ventures. A number of these investors are also on the firm's Advisory Board and heavily involved in the company's expansion and growth strategies.

HowNow, the modern learning platform designed to help today's workforce drive self-directed learning and develop business-critical skills, has now raised more than $3m in funding, following the close of its pre-series A funding round, led by Fuel Ventures. Founded by Nelson Sivalingam with co-founders Kuvera Sivalingam and Ashish Kumar in 2016, HowNow is an integrated learning platform that autonomously curates learning resources, business intelligence and market insights that live in dozens of different internal and external sources, and makes it available everywhere employees work. The AI-powered learning platform is used by SMEs and large Corporates to onboard, upskill and enable employees. The company's investors now include the likes of Mark Pearson (founder of MyVoucherCodes); Andy Murray OBE; Michael Whitfield and Chris Bruce (founders of Thomsons Online Benefits); Bernie Sinniah (former managing director at Citi Bank); and Alwin Magimay (a former partner at McKinsey). Using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, HowNow is able to personalise learning for employees based on their role, experience, learning preferences, skill requirements, business goals and their context.

SPF Private Clients has adopted IBM Watson and IBM Cloud to develop Ava, a new AI virtual Help to Buy mortgage adviser. Ava was created to handle the significant increase in enquiries from first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the Government's Help to Buy scheme and the added complexities of the eligibility criteria. It helps first-time buyers onto the property ladder by offering round-the-clock support for any query they may have. It answers customer questions, verifies personal details and documentation while processing enquiries at a faster rate. It aims to give a mortgage indication in just three minutes.