On the 16th September Sir Andy Hopper was invited to speak on the BBC Today programme on Radio 4 to talk about the CommonAI ecosystem and how this collaborative engineering approach is needed in a world dominated by big tech.
Tim: While the steel industry waits and waits, the technology industry, ready for multi-billion pound announcements from multi-billion dollar companies like chatGPT, multi-trillion dollar companies like Alphabet, as we’re hearing this morning, like Nvidia that makes those microchips needed for so much of the advances in artificial technology — that investment here into the UK. Plenty of American money then, so I how do British businesses stay at the forefront of the artificial intelligence industry, as we get told so often we are?
Sir Andy Hopper is a long-standing British technologist, was influential in the commuting Computing company Acorn, co-founded the tech used by the chip manufacturer Arm as well, plenty more besides, joins me now. He’s also the chair of CommonAI, which is a British lead collaboration within the AI industry. Good morning to you.
Andy: Good morning!
Tim: I’ve got a few questions for you, but just explain a little bit about what CommonAI is is all about, the influence it might have, you hope it might have.
Andy: Yes! Common AI, brings engineers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists together around a new enhanced UK innovation model.
And at the center of this model is the idea that we need a digital infrastructure of programmes, data, designs, and solutions. In addition to data centers and networks which already exist.
So, the idea is, if we can do an analogy with roads, when you build a better car, you don’t also have to build a better road or any road at all, they exist. Well in AI, we need the these components, these base components, this digital infrastructure to be able to more easily design the equivalent of the faster, better, more efficient car, but some AI application.
Tim: Right!
Andy: So that’s at the center of it, and that’s a kind of infrastructure.
Tim: So you see that as infrastructure the industry needs, being led out of the UK, this CommonAI. What do you make when you see the huge announcements being made of investments, billions of pounds of investments, from these big American tech companies? What’s your reaction to that?
Andy: Well, first of all, it’s very early days for AI, this is a tremendous transition. There are lots of opportunities in particular with private data. Data that’s within, for example, the service sector, the largest sector in this country. Data within banks, where you might be able to help with products which reduce the difficulty of transactions, money laundering, security, cyber security, whatever by using more data. So, first of all, that’s got a long way to go.
Secondly, the current engineering solutions are very interesting, very important, but clunky. So, there are always opportunities to do better. And you were kind enough to mention that I was part of the initial technical founding team of Arm, the technology that microprocessor designer, which is at the heart of a very large number of devices. When we were starting that, people said ‘why are you doing this? Intel, the microprocessor company already exists! You’re nuts.’ Well, Intel now has a smaller market capitalization than Arm, and I think exactly the same situation arises just now.
Tim: So when you see, you know, Nvidia, Alphabet, OpenAI making these investments, do you have any concern that we become very reliant on on the funding and the expertise of these American giants?
Andy: You bet! The government has a fine strategy, but implementing it requires savvy. And so, yes, do deals with the large companies, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t just partner with Big Tech, or entities completely dependent on Big Tech. Provide incentives for UK collaboration.
In our model, at the heart of which is a Community Interest Company. It’s an engineering company which provides the tools, the engineers for implementing this digital infrastructure, that cannot be bought or sold. So, at the centre, there is a sticky kind of entity. And things like that, a different innovation model, which gives a leg up to companies here into this still novel area of AI, is very, very important. We want the world to stay here in this country, after all.
Tim: Sir Andy Hopper! Teeing up many, discussions and conversation, perhaps to be had in the coming days.