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Top 10 artificial intelligence stories of 2021

This year, artificial intelligence has moved to operationalisation, explainability and regulatory frameworks. Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 artificial intelligence stories for 2021

Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Published: 20 Dec 2021 10:00

The maturity of artificial intelligence (AI) was evident this year, as the conversations in the industry shifted focus from deployment and innovation to ethics and legislation of algorithms.

Businesses are beginning to reap the rewards of strategic AI initiatives, but many questions need to be answered as to how and where it is appropriate to deploy AI systems.

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 artificial intelligence stories for 2021:

1. Building better data foundations to make the most of AI

The UK government’s national artificial intelligence strategy relies on businesses putting in place the foundations for better use of data – EY research highlights the challenges ahead.

2. Making machine learning operational

As artificial intelligence matures, IT departments will need to take control of change management and governance of data models.

3. Self-regulation of AI is not an option

The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee recently took evidence from two experts, who were asked to share their thoughts on regulating artificial intelligence.

4. Improve trust in algorithmic decision-making

There is a new dirty word in politics – algorithms. Politicians and commentators spoke publicly about how this year’s GCSE and A-levels would not be based on algorithms.

5. Building better data foundations to make the most of AI

The UK government’s national artificial intelligence strategy relies on businesses putting in place the foundations for better use of data – EY research highlights the challenges ahead.

6. Why a data-driven world should consider an oath of ethics

The Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the most widely known of Greek medical texts – and such an oath is needed in data science.

7. Europe’s proposed AI regulation falls short on protecting rights

The European Commission’s proposal for artificial intelligence regulation focuses on creating a risk-based, market-led approach replete with self-assessments, transparency procedures and technical standards, but critics warn it falls short.

8. How AI and automation drive better customer service

Forrester analysts explore the benefits of combining artificial intelligence with automation.

9. A bottom-up and top-down look at intelligent automation

We look at robotic process automation at a coding level and an organisational level, and see how artificial intelligence fits.

10. The drive towards computational storage

The explosion in data is driving demand for faster computing and storage remains a bottleneck – but things are about to change.

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