The London-based startup Prolific, which operates in the field of artificial intelligence, announced the raising of investment funds in the amount of $32 million following the results of the financing round.
This company has created a system that can solve an important problem related to the functioning of AI models. When the configuration of machine intelligence works without failures, something happens that resembles a fantasy world, where technology has gone beyond the usual scope of application and has become something like an integral part of the surrounding world, an element embedded in the program of the existence of the space of life. But in the event that the data used to train the AI model was inaccurate, not deep enough, and limited in terms of coverage of a certain topic, the magic disappears. In such cases, machine consciousness begins the path in the wrong direction. It is this problem that the London startup plans to solve.
Prolific creates a network of 120,000 participating people to inform and stress-test artificial intelligence models. The funding round was conducted jointly with Partech and Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE). The startup intends to spend the funds received on expanding the scope of its activities.
Prolific was founded in 2014. The startup’s clients include organizations such as Google, Stanford University, Oxford University, King’s College London, and the European Commission. The company’s network is used to test new AI-based products, train artificial intelligence systems in such areas as, for example, eye tracking, and determine the degree to which the functioning of advanced technology applications meets the initial goals of developers.
Before the new round of financing, the only funds received by the startup were $1.4 million according to the results of YC. Phelim Bradley, the founder, and CEO of the company, says that against the background of the growing popularity of AI, new horizons of opportunities are opening up for his company. He also noted that the new financing will allow the startup to expand the product and the circle of network participants.
In the field of artificial intelligence, the issue of accuracy and completeness of data used in the training of artificial intelligence models is of primary relevance, since the arrays of information filling machine consciousness determine the concept of understanding the world around the digital mind. The solution to the corresponding problem proposed by Prolific, from the point of view of the principle of application, is simple, but the practical implementation is not characterized by the absence of any difficulties.
Phelim Bradley says that initially the startup’s activity was within certain limits in terms of prevalence and did not scale, but after the number of participants in the firm’s network reached a critical mass, more people learned about the company’s initiative. Information about Prolific was transmitted from one person to another in the format of personal communication.
Phelim Bradley says that the startup pays freelancers who are members of the artificial intelligence model testing network at least 6-8 dollars per hour. According to him, as of today, the total amount of these payments is about $100 million. Prolific is currently working to ensure that the pool of 120 thousand users remains uniform in terms of demographics. The startup has tools, including several hundred filters based on census data and other sources, so that customers can configure what they are looking for as correctly as possible.
A startup relies solely on the abilities of the human brain to solve critical problems in the field of artificial intelligence. The human mind in this case helps to develop a digital version of consciousness.
Currently, there is a kind of synergy between what the startup has done to improve and complicate in the sense of strengthening intellectual capabilities in the field of AI, and the broad needs of the research industry on a more global scale. At the same time, the company has no plans to expand its activities. The firm intends to continue working with artificial intelligence applications, as reported by Phelim Bradley.
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