Google DeepMind is supporting AI scholarships

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to support our health, our welfare, our education and more – but it can also replicate existing prejudices and discrimination across society if not developed responsibly. The University of Birmingham is working with Google DeepMind to ensure a more diverse range of experts are ensuring it works for us all.

The Google DeepMind Scholarships have funded over a dozen students from underrepresented backgrounds to study an MSc in Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning at the University of Birmingham, plus a three-year fellowship research programme, to encourage Black early-career researchers to understand AI in further detail and produce original research that expands our knowledge of this cutting-edge field.

AI can reflect the biases, priorities and world view of the people who own it, programme it and the content fed to it. This can result in discrimination based on race, sex and disability when AI is used in the real world. Google DeepMind is determined to help avoid building bias into AI, by increasing the diversity in the field and supporting further research, so that everyone can benefit from this technology.

In addition to financial support, Google DeepMind is offering bespoke mentoring support from its own researchers, helping to build a more diverse and inclusive community of AI researchers.

The scholarships are already making a significant difference in the lives of aspiring students from underrepresented backgrounds:

Pascal Tohouri was part of the second cohort of DeepMind Scholars. He says: ‘I started studying AI and Machine Learning to design systems that improve society. I want to encode systems with empathy and social consciences. This could mean working for technology firms or governmental organisations. I seek to work for organisations with a demonstrable regard for human welfare.

‘I simply couldn’t have studied without the financial support. Family and friends suggested that I work to fund my living costs while studying, but to achieve a pass or above on such a competitive MSc, one must study full-time. The funding allows me to study full-time and fully immerse myself into the work.’

Charlotte Ibbeson was one of the first students to be supported by the DeepMind Scholarship. She says: ‘The mini-projects and final summer project enabled me to apply what I had learnt to real-world problems. The financial support allowed me to focus on my studies and discover the area of research I am most passionate about; using deep learning to make medical imaging (like x-rays and MRI scans) faster and more accurate, so patients can get better diagnoses and treatment.’

Find out how you could fund vital scholarships like these

If you are inspired by the Google DeepMind Scholarship programme, get in touch to see whether supporting scholarships or research programmes like this could be right for you.