Bristol is to be promoted as a centre of excellence for AI following the launch of a new group with a mission to ensure that the rapid-growth advanced automation tech benefits the whole of society.
Called AI West, the representative group has a clear purpose to educate, collaborate and communicate around AI as it evolves at pace. 
Bristol is already a leader in AI, with the University of Bristol having a long and pioneering tradition in the field while the city is also home to a number of major AI businesses.
The group’s launch event brought together a diverse range of industry, academic and technology experts to discuss and showcase the AI already happening in the city and across the region.
With contributions from EY, Graphcore, Taught by Humans, Data Cubed, Collective Intelligence and the University of Bristol, the event showcased insights, best practice and inspiration reflective of the aims of the newly established community.
AI West is brainchild of Abraham Mauleon Amieva, Research Associate at University of Bristol and founder of the Digital Skills Institute, and Ayush Joshi, lecturer in Data Science at University of Bristol, pictured.
They have said the community will be specifically focused on facilitating and improving university and industry partnerships.
There is already an established steering board in place boasting support from AI experts Helen Tanner, founder of Data Cubed, Joyann Boyce, founder of Included AI and director of product at Graphcore, Tim Santos.
Abraham said: “The University of Bristol has been established in AI academia since the 1970s and arguably boasts some of the strongest credentials across UK Universities, such as a new AI CDT in Practice-Oriented AI, to start in September 2024 and national resource Isambard-AI supercomputer which is being designed and hosted in Bristol.
“As a result, we’ve started to see more b2b collaborations with the university, but it’s time to solidify and optimise those relationships.
“While the university has much to learn from practitioners, industry partners can equally benefit from the research, innovation and talent coming out of academia.”
Ayush added: “The launch event was testament to the appetite in the market to learn and upskill in these emerging technologies. Attendees were provided with recent industry adoption data, implementation best practice and inspiration from businesses built around the tech.
“Ultimately, anyone joining our community will have the opportunity to see what’s cutting edge, while accessing funding information and building connections with like-minded individuals”.
Stuart Harrison, director of FinTech West, has joined the AI West steering group and is confident the initiative adds real value to the South West business community.
He said: “Businesses in the region are at all stages of adoption. Some may be looking to implement the technology but not know how to get started, others may be experimenting but not yet be confident about making the most of the tech.
“AI West is set up to help organisations that are simply interested, already exploring it or those already using AI.”
