Cambridge, 24 February, 2020 – To encourage responsible development and use of artificial intelligence (AI), UK Research and Investment (UKRI) has awarded £8.2 million for ten interdisciplinary projects, jointly led by UK and Canadian researchers. The projects will focus on a range of topics, including monitoring global outbreaks, helping neurosurgeons perform surgery, AI transportation systems for an ageing population, countering abusive language online and improving labour market equality.

One of the ten projects focuses on leveraging the impact of diversity in neurodevelopmental disability (NDD) by integrating machine learning in personalised interventions.

Led by Ian Dunham at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute and Francois Bolduc at the University of Alberta, the project looks at disorders of cognitive, emotional and social development, which affect approximately 13% of the population. While our understanding of genes involved in NDD is growing, interventions are still relatively generic. This project will use machine learning to better understand how diversity between individuals with NDD could guide more personalised interventions.

“This collaboration brings together clinical researchers, and experts in genomics, genetics and machine learning,” explains Ian Dunham. “By pulling together different skill sets and expertise, we can approach complex research questions in a comprehensive way, and hopefully make use of the latest machine learning technologies to gain new insights into neurodevelopmental disorders, how they are diagnosed and how they are treated.”

“The increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation in our lives is generating a range of challenges and opportunities that demand better understandings and sophisticated solutions,” says Jennifer Rubin, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council. “This raises social, technical, and cultural questions that the social sciences in collaboration with other disciplines can help address.”

The projects will encourage new, interdisciplinary and international partnerships in responsible AI research, and promote enhanced infrastructure and training for researchers in Canada and the UK. They will each run for three years and started on 1 February 2020.

Read thee full press release on the UKRI ESRC news website.

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