Professor Dame Wendy Hall has urged the UK to keep its foot "firmly on the accelerator" in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills and diversity with the publication of a new independent report to guide the UK government.

The Regius Professor in Computer Science at the University of Southampton welcomed the AI Council Roadmap that sets out how the nation can be one of the very best places in the world to live with, work with and develop AI.

Dame Wendy contributed significantly to the Roadmap as a member of the UK's AI Council and also in her capacity as the country's AI Skills Champion. The Roadmap builds on the UK government's AI Review, published in 2017, which was co-chaired by Dame Wendy with Jerome Presenti, former CEO of BenevolentTech and now Vice-President of AI at Facebook.

The Roadmap summarises four pillars on which to build the UK's future in AI – Research, Development & Innovation; Skills and Diversity; Data, Infrastructure and Public Trust; and National Cross-sector Adoption - with 16 specific recommendations offered to help the government develop that National AI Strategy.

Dame Wendy, Executive Director of the Web Science Institute, says: "I am really excited to see the release of the AI Council Roadmap which builds on all the wonderful work done since the AI Review in 2017.

"The state of AI has changed much since then, and I am very much looking forward to being part of developing the ideas and recommendations described in the Roadmap. In particular, it is vital we keep our foot firmly on the accelerator with regards to skills and diversity."

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