A statue of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park    Credit: Jon Callas/CC BY 2.0

The Alan Turing Institute is to to help develop a set of technical standards to improve the governance of artificial intelligence.

The Turing – the UK’s national institute for data science and AI – will work alongside the British Standards Institution and National Physical Laboratory to develop the guidelines.

The AI Standards Hub project is backed by both the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Office for AI and forms part of the government’s plan to position itself as “a global science superpower” in the aftermath of Brexit.

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Tech and digital economy minister Chris Philp said: “It’s imperative the UK remains at the forefront of this transformative technology, which is already improving our lives and has huge potential to create new jobs and wealth. The renowned Alan Turing Institute will lead the trial of a new UK programme […] to help shape and improve the global standards for artificial intelligence. It marks the first step in delivering our new National AI Strategy and will develop the tools needed so organisations and consumers can benefit from all the opportunities of AI. We want the UK to lead the world in developing AI standards.”

Adrian Smith, director and chief executive of The Alan Turing Institute, added: “International standards are set to play an increasingly crucial enabling role in the adoption and effective governance of AI technologies. Given our place at the heart of the UK’s thriving AI ecosystem, I am delighted to see the Turing identified as the home of this important new initiative.”