Alan Turing Institute Plans Revamp in Face of Criticism and Technological Change

Britain's flagship AI agency will slash the number of projects it backs and prioritize work on defense, environment and health as it seeks to respond to technological advances and criticism of its record. From a report: The Alan Turing Institute -- named after the pioneering British computer scientist -- will shut or offload almost a quarter of its 101 current initiatives and is considering job cuts as part of a change programme that led scores of staff to write a letter expressing their loss of confidence in the leadership in December.

Jean Innes, appointed chief executive in July 2023, argued that huge advances in AI meant the Turing needed to modernise after being founded as a national data science institute by David Cameron's government a decade ago this month. 'The Turing has chalked up some really great achievements,' Innes said in an interview. '[But we need] a big strategic shift to a much more focused agenda on a small number of problems that have an impact in the real world.' A review last year by UK Research and Innovation, the government funding body, found 'a clear need for the governance and leadership structure of the Institute to evolve.' It called for a move away from the dominance of universities to a structure more representative of AI in UK.

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