6 min read
In defence and national security, the nature of problems and the environments in which they occur make operationalising AI hugely challenging. This is especially true of the maritime domain, where threats are becoming more prolific and advanced....
4 min read
In the maritime domain, gaining a better understanding of increasing volumes and higher fidelity sonar data has well-known and potentially game-changing advantages. Nevertheless, in complex problem spaces like those in defence and national security,...
5 min read
Fraud is one of the most pervasive threats in the insurance industry. Insurance fraud is estimated to cost insurers £1.1 billion in the UK alone. As the cost of living has placed more people under significant financial pressure, authorities warn of...
4 min read
The complexity of modern pricing models, coupled with the regulatory changes that are due to come into effect this year, means that insurers need to start implementing proper AI governance. However, scaling this governance to span a business that...
4 min read
One year into its mission to solve global-scale societal issues through the creation of products and services powered by AI technologies, the Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford is breaking barriers in global collaboration, driven by a commitment to the...
6 min read
Insurance is an incredibly competitive industry. The sheer number of customers, competitors, and small margins make for an adversarial landscape. Pricing is like a microcosm of the insurance industry, with every insurer jostling for the attention of...
6 min read
This article will continue to evolve and change as new details and milestones around AI Regulations emerge. A history of these edits can be found at the end of the piece. In the last decade, we have witnessed the most significant progress in the...
8 min read
Here are the blogs that Mind Foundry has written recently. We've separated them into their respective topics or sectors to help you find what you're interested in.
4 min read
As an industry driven by data and complex algorithms, the insurance sector stands at a crossroads where transparency and explainability in pricing models are becoming more than just best practices—they're becoming imperatives. As the tools and...
5 min read
With its unparalleled ability to extract insight from burdensome volumes of raw data, AI is more than an opportunity to innovate. Nevertheless, this doesn’t make it the answer to every problem involving data. Even when applied to the right problems,...
6 min read
In a previous article, we discussed how the recently launched Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford was tackling the problem of ageing populations by using insurance telematics data and AI to detect the risk factors indicating cognitive decline in elderly drivers....
5 min read
We have previously spoken about how AI is more than just an innovation opportunity, despite contrary prevailing wisdom. It can already solve real and complex problems in various challenging domains. But before work starts on implementation, it’s...
5 min read
Fraud is one of the most pervasive threats to the insurance industry, causing damage to both businesses and customers. Every insurer takes steps to try and negate this threat, but how effective are these measures, and could AI hold the key to truly...
5 min read
In the previous two blogs in the series, we addressed what makes machine learning models trustworthy and how machine learning models fail. This blog is focused on how machines learn and one particular approach called meta-learning, which enables...
3 min read
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning has already brought transformative opportunities across the rapidly evolving landscape of the insurance industry. As data generation has surged and competition intensified,...
5 min read
AI is everywhere. It has rapidly become an integral part of how we organise our lives, go about our jobs, and get from place to place. And yet, in our discussions with customers, we often encounter a wide range of misconceptions about what AI...
3 min read
At the beginning of 2023, we announced the launch of the Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford, a joint venture between Mind Foundry and our partners Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ANDI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe (AND-E). One of the projects the Lab is currently...
9 min read
Taking the leap from the world of academia to pursue a career within industry can be a daunting proposition. After years spent studying and gaining skills in a very focused area, going out into the world and applying that knowledge to a broad range...
6 min read
It’s hardly a secret that data is the lifeblood of the insurance sector. Some experts predict there will be over 30 billion connected devices worldwide by 2025, and the resulting explosion of data, coupled with huge leaps forward in the capabilities...
6 min read
Why do we expect more from machines than we do from each other? We lean on machines for so much, yet when it comes to judging their performance, we seem to have a double standard. A human can fail, time and time again, and still be forgiven. But...
4 min read
In our first blog in this four-part series, we discussed how Machine Learning (ML) models might be considered ‘trustworthy’, and we emphasised challenges in bias and fairness, the need for explainability & interpretability, and types of data drift....
6 min read
Generative AI (GAI) has been firmly at the centre of discussion ever since it was popularised by the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. Although the insurance sector, with its focus on cost, has generally reacted with interest and excitement to the...
7 min read
Last year, Mind Foundry worked closely with Professor Brent Mittelstadt (of the Oxford Internet Institute) to get a deeper understanding of the law, policy, and standards in development surrounding machine learning. The output of this work was an...
6 min read
Generative AI has exploded into the public eye, with the conversation focusing on the opportunities and risks it presents. However, in the Defence sector, there are specific challenges and problems that this technology is simply not suited to solve.
3 min read
There’s been a lot of talk about the development of large language models (LLMs) recently, with the loudest voices split between those who think it poses a significant risk to humanity and those who believe it could be the crowning achievement of...
5 min read
In February 2023, we announced the launch of the Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford, a joint venture between Mind Foundry and our partners Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ANDI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe (AND-E). This is the first of its kind research lab, so...
5 min read
The past few months have shown us how quickly deep tech innovation, and especially advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), can be developed and adopted at great scale. New AI tools have emerged at breakneck speed, opening up a range of...
4 min read
Artificial Intelligence is already being used to solve problems in the Defence sector. But if AI is only seen as an opportunity to practice innovation, then the development of critical applications won’t progress fast enough.
5 min read
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, supported by the UN, is a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge the inspirational contributions of women across the globe in science and technology who continue to break down stereotypes and...
6 min read
Change is hard. We're creatures of habit by nature, and despite our best efforts, we often struggle to avoid repeating entrenched behaviours that take up much of our time and energy. It’s altogether too easy to find yourself coasting along the same...
3 min read
Mind Foundry hosted 'Defining Ambitions: The Future of AI in Public Sector', an invaluable virtual learning exchange for the public sector. Delivered in partnership with GovNewsDirect, the session's objective was to explore the possibilities for AI...
3 min read
(This piece was originally published as a guest post for The Quantum Insider) The focus on quantum computing has been growing steadily over the last decade, thanks to the promise of how this technology could revolutionise our lives. An example of...
4 min read
Helping the fight against malaria Mind Foundry co-hosts HumBug 2022 as part of the ComparE challenge, bringing together the greatest minds to help solve one of the world’s most important problems. The goal of the project is to use low-cost...
2 min read
Mind Foundry are thrilled to have been included in the ‘Ethical AI startup landscape’ research, mapped by researchers at the EAIGG (Ethical AI Governance Group), who have vetted nearly 150 companies working in Ethical AI across the globe. This...
4 min read
Between 2006 and 2010, there were 1,096 registered electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK. Since 2010 that number has exploded, and today there are an estimated 400,000 EVs on UK roads, not to mention more than 750,000 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). With new...
3 min read
(A version of this piece was originally published in techUK as part of #QuantumWeek2021.) Why are quantum computing devices powerful? Quantum computing (QC) devices offer an entirely new way to perform computations, driven by quantum mechanics. If...
2 min read
We’re delighted to announce that we won a prestigious CogX award in the “Best Innovation in Explainable AI” category last night. The CogX awards recognise innovators and change-makers looking to make a real impact on the world around us with...
7 min read
In June 2019, the government launched a call for evidence on the proposed framework of a strategy around data usage in the UK, receiving over 100 responses. At the same time, the government undertook a programme of roundtables, workshops, and...
5 min read
It’s no longer enough to measure model accuracy. Ethics, explainability, and wider performance are key KPIs that must be considered as equally crucial priorities.
4 min read
August 20th is World Mosquito Day. A day to raise awareness about the diseases carried by mosquitoes and highlight the scientific innovations that are emerging to help us reduce the suffering caused by the world’s second most deadly animal.
3 min read
I would be surprised to find anyone who works in the tech sector, especially if they’re working with data, who hasn’t seen a significant emphasis on ethical applications of AI, or “doing AI ethically” (even the Pope has got involved!). Conferences,...
2 min read
Though the numbers fluctuate slightly from year to year, only about 10% of the engineering workforce in the UK is female. International Women in Engineering Day, June 23rd, is a fantastic opportunity to shine the spotlight on the need for a more...
3 min read
In the race to adopt AI, there is a flurry of activity happening in boardrooms and technical teams across the country. AI, which even a few years ago seemed to be the preserve of a vanguard of highly innovative companies, has suddenly become a...
3 min read
As AI capabilities advance, and with the advent of widely available low-cost cloud computing, AI will inevitably be applied to wider problem sets with more immediate and wide-ranging real-world impacts, bringing with it higher problem complexity and...
11 min read
Decisions made by governments and other public sector organisations profoundly affect the lives of large numbers of people every day. If considerations for ethics and responsibility are not made during the processes for designing, building, and...
3 min read
Many organisations still watch from the sidelines as competitors transform their understanding of data with AI. Why is this?
2 min read
Clinical research data plays an essential role in the pharmaceutical industry but can also eat up resources in terms of time and money. However, by utilising machine learning in clinical trials, efficiency can be drastically improved, enabling...
2 min read
The internet can seem full of scary stories and science fiction, but what is Human-AI Collaboration really going to do to transform our lives in the near future?
2 min read
When we consider the role of artificial intelligence in life sciences, it already has a proven track record as an effective tool to support pharmaceutical research. However, companies are also moving fast to explore the transformational impact it...
3 min read
While machine learning has been around for decades, it has swiftly become a major buzzword in recent years. Following in the footsteps of 'digital transformation', many businesses are struggling to comprehend the intrinsic value of machine learning...
2 min read
Quantum computers have the potential to be exponentially faster than traditional computers, revolutionising the way we currently work. While we are still years away from general-purpose Quantum Computing, Bayesian Optimisation can help to stabilise...
2 min read
Even with low cost widely available cloud computing, it can take significant time and compute power to train machine learning models on large data sets. This is expensive and is often at odds with the net-zero carbon goals of many organisations...
3 min read
Black box optimisation in Machine Learning is a pretty common scenario. More often than not, the process or model we are trying to optimise does not have an algebraic model that can be solved analytically.
