Machine Intelligence experts demonstrated the latest advances from revolutionary new technologies in a packed showcase event at the University of Southampton.

A distinguished panel of AI pioneers and government chiefs discussed the research field’s expected impact on the UK economy and the necessary strategies to fulfil this potential at the all-day event, hosted by the University’s Centre for Machine Intelligence (CMI).

Machine Intelligence, which includes the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Autonomous Systems, is using science to build a safer and smarter society. Researchers from Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) are leaders in several pioneering live projects and outlined the latest progress before an audience of around 200 industry attendees, government representatives and academic peers on Friday 26th October.

Dialogue in the afternoon panel session evaluated a forecast from a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report that UK GDP growth of 10.3%, equal to £232 billion, will be directly attributable to the impact of AI on the economy between 2017 and 2030.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Southampton’s Regius Professor of Computer Science and co-chair of a government review of the country’s AI capabilities, said: “The AI technology that is having an impact today was started 20 to 30 years ago at universities. We must now be thinking decades ahead and funding innovative lines of research to make new leaps forward.”

Liam Maxwell, National Technology Advisor to the UK Government, Deborah Fish, from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) AI Lab, Stephen Hennigan, from The Office for AI, and Professor Tim Norman, Head of Southampton’s Agents, Interaction and Complexity Research Group, also contributed to the panel.

Presentation sessions on CMI research at the showcase included topics exploring the unification of humans, machines and society, the development of machines that can learn and see, plus the creation of responsible robots that walk, fly and dive.

Attendees were presented over 40 student posters and demos, including a 3D-printed drone and deep learning computer vision algorithms.

ECS at Southampton has been at the centre of Machine Intelligence research activities for more than 20 years and has generated over £50 million of funding. The School employs over 130 academics, researchers and students working on the topics of AI, Robotics and Machine Learning. The CMI will continue this strong history as it creates a platform for industry-funded Masters and PhD studentships and facilitates centres of excellence in a number of AI-driven applications.

Researchers from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton are heading for the local pub to present their latest pioneering research as part of the international Pint of Science Festival.

The annual Pint of Science Festival was launched in 2012 and takes place in nearly 300 cities around the globe. This year's festival runs from May 14-16 and brings some of the most brilliant scientists to venues across the UK to discuss their research and findings with members of the public in an accessible location – in the pub.

As part of the Festival, ECS researchers Dr Gopal Ramchurn and Professor Koushik Maharatna will be exploring the world of Artificial Intelligence in an evening entitled I, Robot.

Many’s the time that Fantasy Football league performance has been debated in a pub environment but it’s a new signing for Dr Ramchurn, Director of the Centre for Machine Intelligence in ECS. Gopal will tell the story of Squadguru, an algorithm he developed to play the English Premier League Fantasy Football – and which beat 99% of human players on average. He’ll also talk about the difficulties of taking the algorithm out from the labs to the real world and why AI will not beat all humans at everything...yet.

Koushik Maharatna, Professor in Signal Processing Systems Design in ECS, works on next-generation mobile healthcare systems. In his talk, Koushik considers how a ‘predictive’ approach to remotely monitoring the health of populations could help reduce costs of long-term care by predicting impending episodes of chronic disease. He’ll also identify the elements hindering the adoption of such systems and a strategy to overcome these challenges.

Other Pint of Science evenings include In the Dark, exploring supermassive black holes and the ‘darkest’ areas of science, and A Journey Though Galaxies which looks at the formation, evolution and research simulations of galaxies. Both evenings are delivered by Southampton’s school of Physics and Astronomy.

The I, Robot talks take place at Southampton’s Stein Garten on Tuesday 15 May. Tickets for this, and all Pint of Science activities in Southampton, are available online from pintofscience.co.uk/events/southampton with each evening costing only £4.