Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence to support astronomical research and the analysis of data from scientific observatories.

The government is supporting the development and deployment of pioneering machine learning and AI solutions for astronomical research, including the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Intelligent Observatory programme and AI in Radio Astronomy Workshop.

New international research infrastructures like the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, headquartered in the UK, are expected to generate very large volumes of astronomical data, creating opportunities for AI-enabled approaches, while AI will also take on a foundational role in next-generation cosmological simulations of the universe. The UK also supports other major research infrastructures, such as CERN, where the use of advanced digital and AI-enabled approaches for science has been pioneered for decades.

In the autumn, the Government Office for Science is due to publish work on AI for Scientific Breakthroughs, which includes astronomical research as one of its ten high impact scientific opportunities for leveraging AI in the next decade.