5 things about AI you may have missed today: Google Cloud announces Vertex AI Search, UK’s AI hackathon and more

AI Roundup: Google Cloud has introduced Vertex AI Search, offering early access to healthcare professionals. Meanwhile, the UK announced an AI hackathon that is set to take place at the end of this month, exploring AI's potential in education-related tasks. In a separate development, China aims to increase computing power by nearly 50 percent by 2025.

All this, and more in today’s AI roundup.

1. Google Cloud introduces Vertex AI Search for healthcare professionals

Expanding its already vast portfolio of AI services and products, Google Cloud in a blog post on Monday announced that early access to Vertex AI Search is now available. Healthcare professionals and companies can take advantage of Google’s AI-powered search to find accurate clinical information much more efficiently, and to search a broad spectrum of data from clinical sources, such as FHIR data, clinical notes, and medical data in electronic health records (EHRs).

2. UK announces AI hackathon

UK’s Department for Education, in collaboration with Faculty AI, the National Institute of Teaching, and the AI in Schools Initiative, announced that it is set to organize a hackathon between October 30-31. According to the release, participants will be asked to experiment with AI to test its potential in several scenarios such as marking exam sheets or creating lesson plans for teaching. Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary, said, “To reap the benefits in education, we need to improve our understanding of how AI works and safely. Participants of the hackathons will be supported by Faculty AI and the National Institute of Teaching to experiment and put forward solutions, paving the way for the future.”

3. China to ramp up computing capabilities

In a bid to keep up in the AI race, China’s ministries announced a plan on Monday to boost computing power by almost 50 percent by 2025. According to a CNBC report, China currently has 197 exaflops of processing power but wants to increase it to 300 exaflops as it could help support the country’s various sectors such as finance and education.

4. EU finds common ground with Japan on generative AI

Reuters on Monday reported that the EU sees “convergence" with Japan when it comes to thinking about generative AI. In an interview with Reuters, Vera Jourova, EU’s Vice-President for Values and Transparency said, “I see a lot of convergence in how we look at AI and generative AI.”

5. Core BTS launches AI consulting services

IT consulting firm Core BTS on Monday announced the launch of AI consulting services that are tailored to the needs of the hospitality and gaming industries. The AI services will focus on three key areas - End-to-end security in every experience, elevating the guest experience, and optimizing gaming operations. In a release, Robert Sensenig, Area Vice President, East, Core BTS, said, “This will enable us to help our clients leverage AI and data to create a new set of powerful experiences for the next generation of guests."