Global asset management firm Baillie Gifford has made a significant financial contribution to support the University of Edinburgh. The donation demonstrates the firm’s ongoing support of the university’s belief that data and AI have the potential to make a positive impact on people’s lives around the world.

The £5 million donation will be used by a research programme based at the institution to examine some of the most pressing concerns around emerging technologies, including machine learning, accelerated automation, and financial innovation.

There is potential that the programme could expand to include areas of study such as the use and regulation of personal data by industry and government, understanding and mitigating the impact of increased automation on the job market, and the challenge of building an ethical framework for introducing automated vehicles onto public roads.

Programme to Help Ensure AI and Data Benefit Everyone

The donation will also create the Baillie Gifford chair and research programme into data and AI ethics at the University of Edinburgh, which will be based at the University’s Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI). Upon opening in the city’s former Royal Infirmary in 2021, EFI will be one of the largest centres for interdisciplinary learning and research in Europe.

The chair will be based in EFI but will work with data scientists and technologists across the University – including in the new Bayes Centre – with external partners. Their responsibilities will include engaging the public in the challenges and opportunities posed by data and AI.

The Director of EFI, Professor Lesley McAra said: “Public trust and confidence is fundamental to building solutions for the myriad ethical and regulatory challenges posed by new technologies. The Ballie Gifford donation supports our strong commitment to meeting such challenges and harnesses the University’s centuries-long expertise in ethics.”

The new programme will also help to inform the University’s research, policy and taught curriculum on data and will play an important role in the recently announced City Region Deal’s ambition to make Edinburgh the data capital of Europe.

Nick Thomas, partner at Baillie Gifford, said: “We hope that our close collaboration with academics at the cutting edge of transformative technologies will accelerate the pace of research and bring tangible benefits to society.”