The latest news stories around the world are filled with stories of how artificial intelligence is changing our lives, but how is it also fuelling progress in the business world? By looking at a few examples, we can see what AI adoption currently looks like across the West Midlands.
The Region As a Potential AI Testbed
With over 140 AI companies already established in the West Midlands and close to 70,000 locals working in this industry, could the region become an AI powerhouse? The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has called for more companies to start using AI, with the idea that the area can eventually become an AI testbed for public service innovation and business productivity.
TechWM lead Andy Hague said that the majority of the population still doesn’t fully understand what AI is and how it might change their lives. Rather than focusing on the typical fear of whether the technology will replace human jobs, there is a desire in the West Midlands to show businesses how to use AI more effectively.
The School of Coding & AI also opened a new centre in Birmingham last year. This company has been created with the goal of creating 1,000 new jobs, with the majority in the West Midlands. These new roles are expected to emerge in the next five years, as the demand for learning more about AI continues to grow. The skills training offered by the new centre includes a research centre and game design facilities.
Among the other organisations driving this change, the West Midlands Cyber Hub in Birmingham has been created as an option for people who want to drop in and ask questions about the technology. We can also see how places like the Centre for Cyber Resilience and Artificial Intelligence (CYBRAI) in Wolverhampton are helping to educate business leaders and the public alike.
How AI and Tech Developments Can Support New Businesses
AI has been cited as accelerating the ability of people to start their own business, and it’s not the only technology to do so. In digital industries like iGaming for example, companies offering turnkey iGaming software allow people to start their own platforms with the technological support managed turnkey software provides.
An operator that has grown too big for a white-label approach and wants to expand across the country can now decide whether a turnkey model suits them better than the expense of in-house platform development.
Technology developments like this are being used alongside AI to create new businesses and platforms, automating code and marketing, for example.
As more companies start using AI here, the hope that the region becomes an AI hub of some sort should continue to grow.
There is no denying that artificial intelligence is changing the business world, and the West Midlands area is showing signs of being heavily involved in this transition. Anyone who is looking to discover new ways of creating their own business using AI now has a variety of local options for learning how to get started.
Written by Ben Spencer
