PRESS RELEASE : Government puts AI to work for bakers, road workers and more [January 2025]

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 14 January 2025.

Small businesses across the country will be helped to boost their productivity and efficiency through AI tools set to be trialled.

Small businesses across the country will be helped to boost their productivity and efficiency through AI tools set to be trialled – from tech that predicts potholes before they form, to AI models that help farmers make their dairy cows produce greater yields.

Announced today (Tuesday 14 January), the 120 projects will receive a share of £7 million in UK Government funding, enabling them to test AI tech that could give a boost to a whole range of businesses: from agriculture, to transport, to construction and more.

AI is set to be the defining technology of the 21st Century. It is already boosting businesses’ productivity and overhauling public services like healthcare and education.  The government is taking action to help Britain’s businesses and job-creators embrace AI, so they can be more productive, competitive, and deliver the growth the UK needs to improve public services and put more cash in hardworking people’s pockets as part of the PM’s Plan for Change. As Europe’s number one destination for AI businesses, the UK is already well-positioned to seize this opportunity.

The support announced today is focused on how AI could help smaller companies tackle pressing challenges to their businesses, and how researchers can use this tech to take on everyday problems we all live with.

This backing is what the Government’s Plan for Change looks like in action, giving people the tools they need to harness the power of new technologies like AI, which will ultimately grow the economy and benefit everyone. Other projects include:

• Using AI to cut food waste – and thereby protect profit margins – at a bakery by accurately predicting sales and forecasting how much of each product needs to be made daily.
• Road-testing an AI tool that can predict potholes before they form, so roads can be repaired earlier and more cheaply, and before they cause expensive damage to vehicles.
• Trialling an AI model that anticipates where mould is likely to grow in buildings, so they can be remediated before they become a health and safety issue.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

Putting AI to work right across the economy can help businesses cut waste, move faster and be more productive.

The huge range of projects receiving funding today, from farmers and bakers to those tackling potholes on our roads and mould in residential properties, demonstrates the truly limitless benefits of AI that are there for the taking.

And take them we will, with our 50-point AI Opportunities Plan, published yesterday, to unleash AI across the UK, delivering a decade of national renewal and firing up our Plan for Change.

The funding forms part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund, with the support being delivered by the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme.

This announcement builds on the AI Opportunities Action Plan published yesterday, which sets out the Government’s ambitious vision to ramp up the adoption of AI right across the economy. The Plan is a roadmap to spread AI adoption across every part of the UK, help boost living standards, create jobs and unleash economic growth. The difference AI is set to make to all walks of life is further underlined by this week’s announcement of £1 million funding to develop bespoke AI tools to support teachers and transform education – with almost half of teachers across the country already using AI to help with their work.

As the projects today’s funding will support show – from tech to help strawberry farmers protect their yields, to tools to help town planners predict their area’s future transport needs – AI could make a positive impact in every field of work in the UK, and will be critical to kickstarting the growth the country needs. On top of the monetary support, the BridgeAI programme supports businesses by allowing them to tap into training and scientific expertise, as well as offering wider expert advice and guidance to develop their AI innovations.

Dr Kedar Pandya, UKRI Technology Missions Fund Senior Responsible Owner and Executive Director of Cross-Council programme at UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, said:

Today’s investment, funded through UKRI’s Technology Missions Fund, is a major boost to the BridgeAI’s target sectors where the adoption of AI technologies could help to improve productivity and efficiency.

UKRI is in a unique position to bring together businesses and research organisations across a wide range of sectors to discover where AI can make the most difference to people’s lives and the UK economy.

Esra Kasapoglu, Director of AI & Data Economy at UKRI-Innovate UK said:

The adoption of AI in UK industry is fundamental to supporting the country’s economic growth.  Today’s investment will enable us, through BridgeAI, to help more companies to unlock the potential of AI in their business.

It will also allow further development of projects already demonstrating impact to continue their AI journey.