Durham professor awarded grant to research AI hardware

By William Milne

Dr Ludovico Rella, Assistant Professor in Durham University’s Geography Department, was awarded the European Research Council (ERC) starting grant, amounting to up to €1,437,511.25 in funding over the next five years. Rella was one of 421 researchers given the grant, out of 4,807 applications.

Rella’s project, Thinking Metal, will focus on the physical infrastructure that ensures artificial intelligence (AI) can work. In particular, these include microchips and hardware.

The ERC Starting Grant is intended to help early-career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field.

Thinking Metal will examine the ways microchips are designed and the impact this has on the output of AI algorithms. Rella will seek to understand the global network behind the production of AI microchips, hoping to highlight the political and economic influences that underpin the industry.

The research will contribute to our understanding about the fairness and biases of AI and how this will impact the future.

Image: Rostislav Kralik / PublicDomainPictures.net