Professor Lars Kunze, Professor in Safety for Robotics and Autonomous Systems at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory at UWE Bristol, has been awarded an Enterprise Fellowship by Responsible Ai UK (RAi UK).
The funding will accelerate the transformation of cutting-edge research into real-world solutions that embed responsibility and trustworthiness in AI deployment. This initiative is a key component of RAi UK’s mission to maximize the impact of responsible AI research across the economy, society, culture, policy, health, the environment, and quality of life.
Lars’ project, PACER (ProActive Causal ExplaineR), aims to realise a new cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS), which will leverage and analyse recorded event-data logs to anticipate safety issues, provide causal explanations, improve safety, and enhance the understanding and trust of developers, operators, and/or other stakeholders.
Lars commented:
“Unlocking the full potential of AI-enabled systems in society requires more than just data and compute. PACER will make these systems explainable, accountable, and safe – and it will do this at scale.”
With a £35 million UKRI investment, RAi UK is a program dedicated to delivering interdisciplinary research and fostering an international ecosystem for Responsible AI research and innovation. Through extensive consultations across the UK, RAi UK has identified emerging challenges in responsible AI and has deployed over £17 million into projects aimed at accelerating the adoption of responsible AI practices and technologies. RAi UK brings research-based expertise that is connective, adaptive, and world-leading through field-building, and engagement with communities, publics, industries, and governments. RAi UK is led from the University of Southampton and backed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the UKRI Technology Missions Fund and EPSRC.
Professor Gopal Ramchurn, RAi UK CEO, Professor of Artificial Intelligence from the University of Southampton said:
“The RAi UK Enterprise Fellowships represent our commitment to transforming groundbreaking research into tangible solutions that address real-world challenges while demonstrating a responsible approach to deploying AI. Researchers are rarely encouraged to become entrepreneurs, and this is our first step in changing that mindset.
By supporting these visionary researchers, we’re not just funding projects, but fostering an AI ecosystem that prioritizes ethics, accountability, and societal impact. We are extremely grateful to the Royal Academy of Engineering for supporting this initiative.”
Learn about the other Enterprise Fellows:
