ARTIFICIAL intelligence is never far from the headlines, from the development of new diagnostic tools saving lives across the NHS to how artists should be compensated when their work is used.
AI has had a meteoric rise into public consciousness over the last decade, with 96% of people in the UK having some knowledge of it according to the latest data. This talks to how rapidly AI has burst onto the scene.
Last week, the progress of AI hit the headlines once again, when the Prime Minister published an action plan setting out steps to develop the use of AI across the UK.
This follows on from the Scottish Government’s AI strategy, which we published in 2021 to ensure that Scottish businesses and organisations – and indeed our public services – can maximise the benefits of the technology, in a safe and ethical way.
Behind the scenes, the development of AI is still accelerating, bringing with it enormous economic opportunities as well as a unique potential to be a force for good across our society.
Pivotal examples of this work are going on right here in Scotland.
The Radiograph Accelerated Detection and Identification clinical trial in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is finding ways to detect lung cancer earlier.
AI-enabled theatre scheduling systems in NHS Lothian cut waiting lists by making operation theatre scheduling more efficient.
AI breast screening solution has been piloted at NHS Grampian to identify signs of breast cancer which would be otherwise hard to spot with the human eye. AI is also being used to optimise wind farms maintenance, to analyse the satellite images generated by our thriving space sector, and AI-enhanced robotics are being piloted to automate manual tasks such as intricate trimming work on farms and replanting of crops.
Scotland is punching above its weight when it comes to the development of these incredible innovations and within that lies an enormous economic opportunity,
We have a near-£6 billion technology industry which is assuming an ever-increasing focus on AI technology. We have more top universities per head of population than any other country in the world – pivotal to providing the research and development conditions required to harness the technology and showcase it to the world. Edinburgh has been considered one of the top contenders for the title of data capital of Europe since at least the 1970s, which is when 2024 Nobel prize winner and AI pioneer Geoff Hinton did his PhD in AI at the University of Edinburgh.
That position was strengthened by the £600 million data-driven initiative part of the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region deal – which supported the development of key AI assets such as the Data Lab and the University of Edinburgh’s supercomputing facility.
THE UK Government action plan does not reference an exascale supercomputer but these facilities – and Scotland’s computing strengths – must be recognised and capitalised on in future plans.
In the academic year 2022-23 alone, the initiative enabled 35,000 course completions, secured £127m in research activity and supported 41 data-centric technology companies. It is those Scottish companies and institutions helping shape the world of AI, which we must continue to support in any way we can.
Our £42m Techscaler programme – the only state-funded entrepreneurial programme of its kind in Europe – is providing support to AI start-ups, and related technology.
We are also working closely with our enterprise agencies to map and deliver more support on AI for businesses.
There is also an increasing commitment, which the Scottish Government is driving, to ensure we are capitalising on the economic opportunities which AI, computing and data centres offer by identifying the necessary investment and infrastructure to ensure Scotland remains at the forefront of AI development and adoption.
Data centres are critical to delivering AI technology and it’s a firm commitment of the Scottish Government for Scotland to be a leading zero-carbon, cost-competitive green data hosting location, capitalising on our skills, abundant renewable energy and water resources.
We are also, importantly, taking action to ensure AI is safe. Last year, in a world first, we mandated that any Scottish Government uses of AI be published on our national AI Register, to ensure full transparency to the public and taxpayers on how we use AI to improve public services.
We are working to equip people in Scotland with the knowledge and skills they need in a world where AI is increasingly present. This includes programmes such as our Living with AI online course, and measures to support businesses to adopt AI safely and effectively.
While the majority of AI regulation currently remains reserved, I have been regularly engaging with my counterparts in the UK Government to ensure they take into account the interests of Scotland’s people and businesses when developing UK AI policy – and that our tech strengths are not treated as an afterthought by the UK Government.
The UK Government’s AI action plan now shows increased support for regulators, just as we have urged them to deal with the real and immediate risks
around AI that might undermine support for reaping its benefits, instead of the previous UK Government’s counterproductive emphasis on speculative, long-term AI risks.
While it was welcome that the UK Government has set out steps to develop the use of AI across the UK, I do regret that there was a disappointing lack of acknowledgement from the Prime Minister of our expertise and the leadership in this sector by Scottish academia and businesses.
Scotland has a compelling AI story to tell and it is vital that our cutting-edge capabilities are heard loud and clear as the UK Government’s proposed investment zone initiative, to name but one, is developed.
I have already invited the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to meet Scotland’s AI community, in order that he can hear why Scotland can and must be front and centre of the globally important AI industry.
