Australian Institute of Machine Learning joins Lot Fourteen

Lot Fourteen inhabitants officially got a new neighbour this week, in the form of the Australian Institute of Machine Learning (AIML).

The South Australian Government and University of Adelaide’s (UoA) joint venture aims to deliver society-benefiting research while taking an interdisciplinary approach to studies and consulting and collaborating with companies to “develop high-tech products and solutions”.

Already, AIML researchers are applying machine learning across a wide range of industries including agriculture, medical imaging, manufacturing, mining operations and movie making, UoA reported.

Autonomous drones and an AI-based traffic management system both made appearances at the launch, with the idea they could be used to help farmers inspect their properties or predict traffic flow issues, respectively, UoA said.

“Our institute is making an important national and international contribution to pushing the boundaries of what machine learning can do, and how that can be applied to almost every aspect of our lives,” AIML Director Professor Anton van den Hengel said.

“Over the last two years, we have engaged with more than 100 organisations to help them enter into the new AI-enabled global economy. We are working with 10 South Australian SMEs to develop world-class AI products to sell to the world,” he added.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall hopes the move to Lot Fourteen will support further collaboration across “high-tech and high-growth sectors” and “help us stop the brain drain from our state, grow our population and bolster our economy”.

The new headquarters have already created over 60 jobs and there are “many more in the pipeline”, the government said.

Image: UoA Professors Peter Rathjen and Professor Anton van den Hengel with Premier Steven Marshall in AIML. Image courtesy: University of Adelaide