British Chinese researchers awarded major artificial intelligence grants

Two British Chinese artificial intelligence, or AI, experts have been awarded major United Kingdom research fellowships for their groundbreaking research projects into communications and the fight against cancer.

Manchester University AI researcher Christopher Yau and Warwick University computer scientist He Yulan were among 15 top UK academics to win a Turing AI Accelerator Fellowship this year, and will receive grants from a 20-million-pound ($26.7-million) fund set up by British innovation agency UK Research and Innovation.

Yau won his fellowship for his work that combines artificial intelligence and genomics, which is a field of molecular biology concerned with the structure and function of the genome. Yau hopes to eventually develop a clinically approved AI-driven model that predicts the development of cancer before it is fully formed in the body.

Yau said the fellowship will enable him to conduct further "groundbreaking research at the intersection of genomics and artificial intelligence".

"Genomics will yield unprecedented amounts of data which necessitate the use of AI for their interpretation," said Yau.

Systems that employ genomics have the potential to transform healthcare. By analyzing patient genomes and pinpointing mutations, AI programs can support early diagnosis of inherited diseases, including many types of cancers.

"I will be developing novel clinical information systems to provide cancer patients and clinicians with the very best genomics-guided personalized care to improve treatment effectiveness and survival rates," said Yau.

He Yulan was recognized for her work in improving the way computer programs understand text and language, bringing us closer to human-like AI systems. Technologies that rely on text or voice commands have come a long way in recent years, though AI still lags far behind the brain when it comes to picking up on the subtleties of human language.

She will use the new grant to build a machine reading comprehension model that mimics human cognitive processes. Such a system could be used to enhance intelligent virtual assistants, automated customer services, and smart home devices.

"Since over 80 percent of the world's data are held in an unstructured form, and spoken and written communication plays a central part in our daily work and life, the methodology to be developed will have a profound impact on society at large," said He.

Other recipients of grants this year work in a variety of fields, including astrophysics, high-value manufacturing, and new energy systems. The fellowship is controlled by The Alan Turing Institute, named after the 20th century English mathematician whose ideas lead to early versions of modern computing.

"The UK is the birthplace of artificial intelligence and we therefore have a duty to arm the next generation of Alan Turings with the tools that will keep the UK at the forefront of this remarkable technological innovation," UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway said of the grant announcement.