Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Office of Artificial Intelligence 2021 Grant.

In 2021 the UK published the National AI Strategy which set out our ten year plan to strengthen the UK’s role as a global AI leader and which built on the success of the 2018 AI Sector Deal and continuing commitments to improve the AI skills and talent of the UK workforce.

The AI Sector Deal committed to an Industry-Funded Masters in AI (IMAI) programme, which included support for up to 200 AI Masters places at UK universities, starting in September 2019.

The programme successfully leveraged £3.3 of industry funding for AI Masters for every £1 of public spend. Beyond the financial benefits, the design of the programme facilitated engagement between Higher Education Institutions and large companies, including DeepMind, Quantum Black, BAE Systems and others. The government provided an opportunity for students across the majority of regions to develop their skills in AI, with twelve out of seventeen institutions located outside of London and the South East. By facilitating partnerships between industry and academia, participating universities were able to improve the business relevance of their AI Masters’ courses, helping to meet the demand for industry relevant skills.

Despite these significant accomplishments, the evaluation highlighted several limitations in the programme. A lack of appropriate data collection meant there were limited mechanisms for evaluating student participation and graduate outcomes. The initial targets were set relatively high and future programmes would benefit from a more evidence based approach to set more realistic targets. Finally, stakeholders indicated that more could have been done to publicise the programme to industry, Higher Education Institutions and students.

The successes and limitations of the IMAI programme have already shaped and informed the design and delivery of the AI and Data Science Conversion Course programme, announced in 2019 – including how to successfully leverage industry funding – which has been incorporated into the design of the second phase of the AI and Data Science Conversion Course programme. The appointment of a dedicated employer engagement partner is ensuring a targeted focus on building strong relationships between industry, academia, participating students, and the wider AI skills community to drive stronger stakeholder involvement in the programme. The programme is also focused on improving the diversity of students taking up AI courses, and emerging findings from our improved data collection process has enabled us to demonstrate the value of scholarships in improving diversity and the representation of women, as well as black and disabled students in the AI ecosystem.