World-class Scotland gets AI - Angus Robertson

​Discussions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its use in all areas of society are everywhere.

Scottish Innovation Minister, Richard Lochhead

So urgent is the task to address AI and its related issues, that G7 nations are bringing forward a ‘Code of Conduct’ to establish norms about its use. This is an important work that all nations should be prioritising.

In Scotland, we have been seized of this issue for several years, with the launch of the AI Strategy for Scotland in early 2021. In it, the Scottish Government outlined how AI should be used not purely for economic growth, but for the betterment of wider society. At the launch event for the AI Strategy, global AI expert Professor Stefaan G. Verhulst noted that “most AI Strategies are motivated by the urgency to stay on top. Scotland's strategy is as much informed by the need to help humanity itself, and that is to be applauded.”

Similarly, The Data Lab in Edinburgh Central, a publicly funded organisation to help the data and AI community grow in Scotland; and the AI Alliance, a body set up with experts to guide government and industry on its use of AI, has ensured Scotland is ahead of the curve.

As Scottish Innovation Minister, Richard Lochhead, said, ‘We are, first and foremost, a land of invention, a pioneer in technology and an ideal place to invest and grow an AI business.

‘Scotland gets AI. Our universities’ AI research and teaching has been ranked as world-class since the early formation of the sector, while Edinburgh was recently ranked the UK’s most “AI-ready” city in the UK.’