Australia’s largest university-based machine learning research group will grow to support more than 50 new projects after receiving a $12 million funding injection from its university and government backers.
The funding, to be provided by the state government and the University of Adelaide over four years, will enable the Australian Institute for Machine Learning to expand its research amid the meteoric rise of generative AI.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said that the investment would help position the new Adelaide University at the forefront of Australian AI research and lift the state’s economic complexity.
“Strengthening industrial AI capability will be key to enhancing efficiency, productivity and automation, and will help South Australia to become a world-leading digital economy,” he said on Wednesday.
AIML was established at the University of Adelaide in 2018 with a foundational investment from the then Weatherill Labor government, with $8.1 million provided over the five years to September 2023.
“Since the AIML was established six years ago, we’ve worked with more than 35 businesses and numerous government entities to use AI to create new products and improve productivity,” AIML director Simon Lucey said.
AIML’s research and engineering team will use the new funding to support a “further five state government projects and up to 50 industry projects”, according to Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Susan Close.
It will also help bring top AI research talent to the state, including through four new international exchange PhD scholarships. A further 16 honours/masters degree scholarships will also be made available for South Australian students.
In 2021, South Australia was responsible for 20 per cent of all research papers on AI in Australia that year despite making up just 7 per cent of the population. The University of Adelaide is also ranked as one of the leading universities for AI research globally.
“This investment in high-tech education will help to ensure South Australia has the skills it needs to undertake a range of major projects within our state but also those in other parts of the nation and overseas,” Ms Close said.
The $12 million investments comes six months after a parliamentary inquiry called on the government to prioritise the development of sovereign AI capabilities to ensure the state remain at the forefront of AI research.
“South Australia has strong foundations in its AI research and development capability, an established track record of attracting AI investment, and has built a high-quality AI talent pool,” the report said.
“However, rapid development of AI globally, combined with significant investments by international governments to scale up their own domestic AI research, means that South Australia must continue to prioritise the growth of its AI capability.”
The state government is yet to respond to the inquiry, but InnovationAus.com understands that further announcements intended to address at least some of the recommendations are expected in coming months.
Kingston AI Group, a cohort of leading AI academics from universities like the Australian National University and University of Adelaide, last month found that greater use of AI would lead to a short-term GDP boost of $200 billion a year.
With the report‘s release, Mr Lucey – one of the 14 members of the group – called on the Commonwealth government to deliver a more substantial investment in AI that reflects the “extraordinary depth of AI talent in Australia that has the potential to supercharge our economy”.
“The federal government hasn’t really committed to building an Australian AI capability yet. Most developed nations have had theirs up and running for several years now and some have even recently increase their funding considerably,” he said.
“AI’s a lightweight technology, so it delivers a return on investment quite quickly because it doesn’t need heavy infrastructure to get up and running. An investment in this year’s budget actually could turn things around.”
