The grand prize for the final winner will be £1m, while the 10 finalists will now receive £100,000
This is the second year of the Manchester Prize being ran, promoting and rewarding UK artificial intelligence breakthroughs in the interest of clean energy targets.
The finalists for this year were announced at London Tech Week by secretary of state for science, innovation and technology Peter Kyle.
Different projects for the construction industry
An example of the finalists for the Manchester Prize is DRIVE by Flexible Power Systems.
DRIVE (Deep Re-enforcement learning for Intelligent Vehicle and Energy Optimisation) tackles issues with fleets of vans, trucks, buses, etc. and aids in switching to electric through management of vehicles, chargers, and schedules.
The AI uses its learning system to make fast and efficient decisions, such as location and duration of charging, using training from a virtual world to make the best decisions in the real world.
Taking the projects over the finish line
The 10 finalists for the Manchester Prize have now been given £10,000 in seed funding, and compute credits worth £60,000, as well as non-financial support in developing their solutions.
The grand prize winner will be announced in Spring 2026 and will receive £1m for their technical innovation, and will have established a road map to adoption by 2030.
The previous winner of the Manchester Prize was given to Polaron, which streamlined the development of advanced materials, reducing the time for development from years to days, and increasing the capacity of EV cars by 10%.
Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, chair of the Manchester Prize judging panel, said: “We are at a critical juncture in the journey to net zero, the next decade is make or break if the world is to keep global temperatures from exceeding 1.5C by 2050. Global emissions need to halve by 2030 compared to 1990 levels if we are to stay on track, while electricity production will need to double by 2050 to meet the demands of an electrified economy – clean energy innovation is essential. The rapid advancement of AI means we have tools like never before to achieve the goal of decarbonising the economy while supporting individuals, communities and businesses to thrive.”
Last month, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association released a report encouraging the construction industry to adopt AI into its work process, citing benefits for performance, automation, and project development.
It also said that caution must be taken however, with recommendations for:
Managing risk
- Recommendation 1– Promote the use of existing standards for the adoption of AI.
- Recommendation 2– Consider the development of a specific review of risks associated with the use of AI in construction.
iii. Recommendation 3 – Consider opportunities to develop confidential reporting system for AI risk in construction.
Cross-industry collaboration
- Recommendation 4– Support existing sector activities relating to AI.
- Recommendation 5– Support or develop a construction sector AI community.
iii. Recommendation 6 – Develop construction AI implementation plan.
Training
- Recommendation 7– Signpost existing training.
- Recommendation 8– Development of role-specific training.
iii. Recommendation 9 – AI security and ethics training.
- Recommendation 10– Inclusion in professional development.
The post Finalists for Manchester Prize AI competition announced appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
