The JGI team had a great time at the AIUK conference a few weeks ago. There were some fantastic University of Bristol demonstration stands at the conference that our Turing Liaison team coordinated. Read more about the demonstrations below and their experience of AIUK below.
AI for Collective Intelligence Hub, Informed AI Hub and PrO-AI (Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence) Centre for Doctoral Training
To address society’s most pressing challenges in health, sustainability and security, we must be able to reliably engineer important new kinds of systems that communicate, collaborate and co-ordinate successfully – Collective Intelligence. The AI for Collective Intelligence Hub, Informed AI Hub and PrO-AI (Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence) Centre for Doctoral Training teamed up to show how collective artificial intelligence (AI) systems working together to address complex challenges like flood response and urban traffic management.
Demonstrators:
- Sidharth Jaggi, Director of Informed AI Hub and Professor, School of Mathematics
- Peter Flach, Director, PrO-AI (Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence) Centre for Doctoral Training and Professor of Artificial Intelligence, School of Computer Science
- Vicky Walter, Senior Research Hub Manager, AI for Collective Intelligence Hub
- Harriet Lee, Hub Project Manager, Informed AI Hub
- Demos from the CDT:
- OKUMA: A Digital Health Tool for Type 2 Diabetes in Nigeria – Tim Arueyingho, PG, Digital Health and Care (PhD)
- Multi-Agent Systems for Sustainability – Daniel Collins and Yining Yuan, PhD students, School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology
- Beyond Expected Patterns in Type 1 Diabetes – Isabella Degen, PG, Interactive Artificial Intelligence (PhD)
- Visualizing AI: Exploring Large-Scale Image and Video Collections – Grant Stevens, EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow, School of Physics and Otto Brookes, PG, Interactive Artificial Intelligence (PhD)
- AR for AI – Alex Davies, PhD Student, School of Computer Science
- Multi-robot formations – Jan Blumenkamp and Kazi Ragib Ishraq Sanim, Researchers from the Prorok Lab
Summary from demonstrators:
We had a great time at AI UK, where our demonstrators did an excellent job presenting their research to attendees at the conference. Our stand “From Theory to Practice in Collective AI Systems” brought together different EPSRC funded AI initiatives led by the University of Bristol (AI for Collective Intelligence Hub, Informed AI Hub, Interactive AI CDT, PrO-AI CDT) highlighting the impressive range of AI research happening across the University.
Our schedule of demonstrations covered a range of AI applications; from digital health tools for diabetes care to multi-agent systems for sustainability, interactive visualisations of AI models, and robotics research. The demonstrators handled a steady stream of visitors, explaining their work with enthusiasm and an impressive ability to communicate complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences. When not at the stand, we all took the opportunity to explore the conference, talk to colleagues in the sector, attend AI talks and explore different perspectives on the latest developments in the field.
Overall, it was a really valuable experience, and we’re looking forward to more opportunities to showcase our AI community in the future!
Isambard-AI national AI research infrastructure (AIRR)
Isambard-AI’s stand provided visitors a unique opportunity to interact directly with Isambard-AI via AI applications running directly on the supercomputer. Researchers can sign up for an account at the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) stand and try it out for use in your own research.
Demonstrators:
- Simon McIntosh-Smith, Professor in High Performance Computing, School of Computer Science and Project Lead, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing
- Emma Rose, Centre Manager, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing
- Emily Coles, Communications Manager, Strategic Communications and Marketing Management Team
- Fan Yang-Turner, AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Lead, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing
- Matt Williams, AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Specialist, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing
- Richard Gilham, AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Specialist, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing
Summary from demonstrators:
Colleagues from the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) were proud to showcase Isambard-AI at AIUK 2025, giving attendees a first-hand look at the UK’s fastest AI supercomputer. As part of the University of Bristol’s commitment to driving cutting-edge research in AI and high-performance computing (HPC), our stand became a bustling focal point for discussions on how Isambard-AI can accelerate innovation with positive impacts across science, industry, and society.
We were delighted to speak with a steady stream of researchers, academics, industry leaders and policy makers, eager to understand how BriCS and the University of Bristol are shaping the future of AI computing in the UK. With the sheer computational power of Isambard-AI, capable of supporting everything from training large-scale AI models to complex climate science and healthcare projects, there was plenty to talk about.
Day 1 of AIUK was particularly exciting as we welcomed Feryal Clark, Minister for AI and Digital, and Jean Innes, CEO of the Alan Turing Institute, to the stand. Both were keen to handle a chip identical to those powering Isambard-AI and discuss the potential use of waste heat water for local infrastructure.
AIUK 2025 was an exciting opportunity for BriCS to demonstrate both the capabilities of Isambard-AI and the unprecedented rate of its construction. What an opportunity to show how the University is living up to the accolade of AI University of the Year. The enthusiasm and engagement we saw at the stand was palpable and we look forward to building on new connections in the months ahead.Apply for time on Isambard-AI
The University of Bristol runs an internal process to applying for time on Isambard-AI phase 1. The next application round is due to launch by late-March, for projects starting in early May. The application process will follow a similar format to Isambard 3; further details to follow. The national call for access to Isambard-AI phase 1 is run through UKRI. This expression of interest call is open to all researchers throughout the UK.
Towards Wearable Assistive AI
Footage captured from wearable cameras are the base of assistive technologies. By analysing this footage, the intention, skill and memory of the user can be recorded. This will enable assistance, improving one’s skill and augmenting one’s memory. Advanced research at the University of Bristol is making steps towards this future. This stand allowed visitors to experience the latest in Egocentric Vision covering hardware advances through their partnerships with major players like Meta and Apple.
Demonstrators
- Rhodri Guerrier, PhD student, School of Computer Science
- Siddhant Bansal, PhD student, School of Computer Science
- Michael Wray, Lecturer, School of Computer Science
Summary from demonstrators:
We all found the experience at the AIUK conference both enjoyable and valuable. The stand was setup for our arrival so we could get started straight away and focus on presenting, which was very nice. We found it really enjoyable being able to talk with so many people from so many different backgrounds. Not only did this help us improve our presentation skills, as we had to adapt to each new person, it also exposed us to different opinions and use cases of the technology that we would not normally be exposed to when just working within our lab. For example, we talked with lawyers, regulators, business leaders, government officials and many more. It is not often that we get to discuss our work outside the scope of purely research, so we found this both insightful and challenging. We also really liked the format as it allowed us to have a nice break during the talks before getting started again when more attendees emerged on the exhibition floor. Finally, we would like to say a huge thank you to the organisers for all their help and to the catering staff as well. The food was delicious.