But he is excited by AI systems that work with humans. “It’s not a question about one replacing the other, but about the two things together being more than the sum of its parts.”

Faisal’s lab focuses on tackling real-world intelligence challenges. They have created novel neurotechnology that augments the human body, and enabled human-AI cooperation to understand the algorithms the human brain uses when learning new behaviours. They are also currently working on an AI-powered system for NHS Wales that predicts which patients are most likely to need to go to hospital unexpectedly – enabling hospitals and the wider NHS to design solutions.

He knows first hand the power of collaboration. Eight years ago, Faisal founded the AI Cross-Faculty Network – which now has 300 academics working on AI-focused topics – and is the founder and Director of Imperial’s UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Healthcare and the UKRI Centre in AI for Healthcare.

All these groups, he says, are examples of how to live the idea of convergent science and deliver positive change at scale.

“For us, AI in healthcare is not just thinking about algorithms and data. It’s about impact for patients, regulation, ethics and policy. When I talk about positive impact, I’m literally talking about people affected and lives saved – adding to the quality of life for patients, carers and doctors.”

Much of Barnaghi’s work is also centred around collaboration. “I don’t have clinical knowledge and insight,” he says. “The only way I can get my AI to have impact on the real world is by working with others. Without collaboration, my work doesn’t matter.” A case in point? His work with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to create an AI model to aid the diagnosis and understanding of disease progression in rare and complex childhood diseases.

“Children with rare and complex diseases take an average of one to five years to get diagnosed,” he points out. “The new model could mean that any doctor, anywhere in the world, could have access to the insights contained in GOSH’s patient records – bearing in mind that GOSH is one of the best hospitals in the world for rare and complex disease in children.”

And he’s seen how effective it can be to bring experts together around a single mission, through another strand of his research on dementia. Here, he is examining how AI might be used to understand how the disease progresses, creating models that can identify those at risk much earlier.

“Individual academics are driven by our individual sense of purpose and by our ideas, and we seek collaboration,” he says. “But when the institution sets a mission, it draws in expertise from a much wider pool. For example, Imperial is the only institution in the country to have two Medical Research Council-funded centres for dementia research. That came about because Imperial has a strategy and it attracted people. That led to a broader collaboration nationally and internationally.”

The new School of Convergence Science will provide that infrastructure and sense of mission, he says – a platform to coordinate efforts and identify a series of themes across different areas.

“For example, within Human and Artificial Intelligence, we’re looking at various strands: creating sustainable AI from material science; creating hardware that uses less energy; creating robotics that can respect human values and understand emotions; and creating AI for healthcare. We can set targets and redirect more effort into these areas, and we can take a collaborative approach to academic and industry collaborators and philanthropic investors."

Branford’s research focuses on trying to make physical neural networks that can perform AI more energy efficiently, and here too the benefits of collaboration are clear. “The wicked problems faced by our society are too broad and too complex to be solved by any one discipline,” he says. “My own field is a great example – new and more efficient AI hardware can only come about by the co-evolution of new physics, new materials, new device architectures and new algorithms.”

Of course, collaboration isn’t limited to academics – the team are keen to reach the wider Imperial community, especially alumni. Manolis Kalikakis (MBA 2024) Senior Manager, AI and Digital Transformation at Plastika Kritis, a plastic fabrication company, is a founding committee member of the Imperial AI Alumni Network. “In my work, I’ve been leading AI and digital transformation initiatives across different countries and industries,” he says.

“My industry, manufacturing, is not usually what people think of when they think about AI. But I think it’s one of the areas where the technology can make a very big difference, very quickly. And that means my work isn’t just about technology – it’s also about aligning people towards a clear vision of AI and transformation.”

No industry can innovate in isolation, he points out: it must connect with research and the global conversation about ethics and sustainability. And that’s why he’s keen to help build the AI Alumni Network. “The future of AI should not be shaped just in labs and boardrooms, but in communities with diverse voices,” he says. “For me, the Network is exactly that space – a forum where industry professionals, researchers and students have open conversations about more than just technical progress, but also ethics, social impact and values.”

He hopes that the Network will become a bridge to connect alumni to each other, to Imperial, to the next generation and to the wider global dialogue about AI, enabling knowledge-sharing and innovation across industries, regions and perspectives in a similar way to the School of Convergence Science. “The Imperial community has always been a hub of excellence and innovation. I’m very proud to see this Network carry that spirit forward. I’d like to see it becoming a thought leader for AI.”

And few can predict where AI is going – but Imperial’s people have a crucial part to pay in its future, says Faisal. “Human and Artificial Intelligence will play an ever bigger part of the AI conversation. I’d like people to say in the future that our Imperial way of thinking and doing things becomes a brand of deep, inclusive, innovative thinking, solutions and transformation. This means being embedded in the real world and solving problems of society at scale.”