Google and the University of Cambridge have announced an AI research partnership set to last multiple years to ensure the responsible use of AI. 

Research will include exploring the potential benefits of AI to climate change and healthcare. 

The University of Cambridge has already started a Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence (CHIA) towards these projects which Google will now collaborate on. 

The global AI market is on track to be worth over $900bn by 2030, according to research from analyst company GlobalData, with many businesses and workers set to be disrupted by its rapid expansion into sectors outside of tech. 

In December 2023, a GlobalData survey found 20% of respondents answered that their businesses had a moderate adoption rate of AI. This was up from 12% in May 2023. 

As AI becomes ubiquitous, ethical concerns over its usage have never been more relevant. 

CEO of SaaS company Ad Signal Tom Dunning commented that this widespread usage could cause further AI problems. 

“The greatest downfall of AI is the blanket adoption from businesses jumping on the latest trend,” he said, “while AI undoubtedly has its benefits, both the training of models and the components that power it require carbon-heavy materials to produce, colossal cooling and increase network traffic significantly.” 

Dunning stated that academia and industry voices must not be forgotten as AI technology seeps into other historically non-technical sectors. 

“Organisations such as Google and the University of Cambridge have the capacity and responsibility to shift the market towards less carbon-intensive solutions, while also reducing the carbon output of AI,” he stated. 

This partnership means that Google Research will also fund Cambridge’s future research in socially conscious AI.