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Government to plough £20m into artificial intelligence research including robots and driverless cars

A major review into how Britain can become the world leader in Artificial Intelligence [AI] and robotics will be announced on Monday. 

Leading figures from academia and business will lead the drive into how Government can encourage the fledgling industry in the wake of the Brexit vote. 

Experts believe £654 billion can be added to the British economy by 2035 if the growth potential in AI is achieved. 

An extra £17m of funding will also be announced, financing research including into how “micro-robotics” can be used in surgeries. 

The measures are the flagship announcements of a new "digital strategy" that will be unveiled by Government next week. 

Ministers are keen to grasp the economic opportunity from developing driverless cars, digital “assistants” like iPhone’s Siri and robots working in hazardous environments such as nuclear facilities. 

It is felt that the UK already has a “competitive advantage” in the field by more is needed to ensure the country is the world leader in AI in the coming decades. 

Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, said: “Britain has a proud history of digital innovation - from the earliest days of computing to Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s development of the World Wide Web.

 “We are already pioneers in today’s Artificial Intelligence revolution and the digital strategy will build on our strengths to make sure UK-based scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs continue to be at the forefront.

“Technologies like AI have the potential to transform how we live, work, travel and learn … It’s great that Government and industry will be working together to drive growth in the sector, to realise all the economic and social benefits for the UK.”

The review will be led by Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, and Jérôme Pesenti, the CEO of BenevolentTech, a British technology company using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery.

A funding boost of £17.3m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to support university research will also be announced. 

Dame Wendy said: “Our scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence and I’m looking forward to exploring how industry and government can work together to support the technology in the UK."

Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, said: “Investment in robotics and artificial intelligence will help make our economy more competitive, build on our world-leading reputation in these cutting-edge sectors and help us create new products, develop more innovative services and establish better ways of doing business.”