Letter to Chris Boyland - Head of AI and Digital Growth at the Scottish Government
Dear Mr Boyland,
I am writing on behalf of GENERAL INTELLIGENCE PLC, a Scottish company established in 1896, to introduce a substantial portfolio of British intellectual property which we believe may be relevant to Scotland’s ambitions in artificial intelligence, digital growth and the development of its wider technology economy.
The company has spent considerable time developing a distinctive portfolio centred on the concept of intelligence. It comprises thirty UK Class 42 trade marks, more than one hundred additional intelligence-related intellectual-property assets and thirty corresponding artificial intelligence consultancy frameworks, each addressing a particular commercial sector or institutional environment.
The portfolio includes INTELLIGENCE®, GENERAL INTELLIGENCE®, SUPERINTELLIGENCE® and UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCE®, alongside a much wider collection of intelligence-related names, digital assets, research and consultancy material.
We believe that the significance of this work extends beyond intellectual-property ownership. It represents an attempt to establish a coherent commercial and intellectual architecture through which the developing capabilities of artificial intelligence can be considered and applied across the economy.
An opportunity for Scotland
Scotland has a longstanding tradition of intellectual achievement, engineering, scientific endeavour, financial innovation and commercial enterprise. We believe that the development of artificial intelligence offers an opportunity not only to participate in the creation of new technologies, but also to develop and commercialise the intellectual property, specialist knowledge and institutional capabilities through which those technologies will be applied.
In our view, these dimensions deserve to be considered together.
The international development of artificial intelligence is understandably attracting considerable attention towards computing infrastructure, research, models and the companies developing increasingly capable systems. However, there is another important opportunity: to establish intellectual property, commercial frameworks and specialist expertise that help organisations across established industries understand and apply these capabilities.
This is the area in which our work is concentrated.
Thirty sector-specific consultancy frameworks
We have developed thirty artificial intelligence consultancy frameworks, each designed around the particular requirements of a commercial sector or institutional environment.
They cover building societies, retail and commercial banking, asset management, investment banking, financial technology, financial planning and advisory services, insurance, reinsurance, managing general agents, insurance agencies, offshore energy and film and television production insurance, together with a number of specialist insurance markets.
The frameworks are based on the proposition that artificial intelligence cannot be considered independently of the institution in which it is to be used.
A building society has a distinctive mutual purpose and relationship with its members. An asset manager must consider investment research, portfolio construction, risk and the interests of clients. An insurer must understand underwriting, claims, exposure and the changing nature of risk. An offshore energy insurer operates within a complex environment of engineering, infrastructure, geography and environmental conditions.
Each institution therefore presents different questions, opportunities and responsibilities.
Our frameworks examine how artificial intelligence might contribute to the intelligence, decision-making, operating capability and long-term value of the organisation concerned. They consider strategy, customers, products, operations, information, technology, risk, growth and institutional transformation.
They are consultancy frameworks rather than thirty separate artificial intelligence products or deployed technologies. Their purpose is to provide a structured basis for examining where intelligent systems may contribute, what their limitations and risks might be, and how their application can be made commercially and institutionally worthwhile.
From artificial intelligence to institutional intelligence
A central idea underlying the portfolio is the distinction between artificial intelligence as a technology and intelligence as an institutional capability.
Artificial intelligence concerns what machines can do. Institutional intelligence concerns how organisations understand information, exercise judgement, make decisions, learn from experience and create value.
We believe this distinction will become increasingly important as machine intelligence develops.
The introduction of increasingly capable technology does not, by itself, make an organisation more intelligent. Its value depends upon the quality of the decisions it informs, the problems it addresses, the way it is integrated into the organisation and the extent to which it strengthens rather than undermines institutional capability.
Our work is therefore concerned not simply with technology adoption, but with the wider questions of purpose, application, accountability and long-term value.
The commercial and economic opportunity
We believe the portfolio may have relevance to several aspects of Scotland’s economic development.
First, it represents a substantial body of intellectual property with British provenance, developed by a Scottish company. We consider that the creation, ownership and commercialisation of intellectual property should form an important part of Scotland’s participation in the development of artificial intelligence.
Secondly, the thirty frameworks provide a sector-specific basis for engaging with established Scottish industries and institutions. They offer a way of examining the practical application of artificial intelligence beyond the technology sector itself, including financial services, insurance, energy and other areas of economic activity.
Thirdly, the portfolio provides opportunities to explore the relationship between intellectual property, consultancy, research and commercial application. We believe these elements can reinforce one another, creating a basis for longer-term development rather than treating intellectual property as an isolated asset.
Finally, we believe there is considerable value in developing specialist knowledge about the application of artificial intelligence within particular industries. The organisations that understand their own institutional requirements, and can apply technology accordingly, may be better placed to translate technological progress into meaningful economic and operational outcomes.
A Scottish company with an international perspective
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE PLC has been established for considerably longer than the modern artificial intelligence industry. Our interest, however, is firmly directed towards the future.
The portfolio has attracted international interest, including from parties in Silicon Valley and China. We regard this as an indication of its potential significance, while remaining conscious of its British provenance and the opportunity to develop it constructively in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom.
Our preference is to see the assets developed in a manner that creates lasting value, encourages contribution and supports the wider development of machine intelligence. We are guided by five principles: long-term owner value, contribution, simplicity, ordinary decency and political neutrality.
We are not approaching the Scottish Government with a request to endorse particular technologies or to adopt a predetermined programme. Rather, we wish to bring the portfolio to the attention of the appropriate people within the Scottish Government and explore whether its intellectual property, research and consultancy frameworks may have a useful place within Scotland’s developing AI and Digital Growth landscape.
An invitation to examine the portfolio
We would welcome the opportunity to provide you with a fuller presentation of the portfolio, including the thirty frameworks, the associated intellectual property, the company's research and our longer-term intentions for its development.
We would also be grateful for your advice on the appropriate individuals or teams within the Scottish Government, or its associated economic and innovation organisations, with whom this work might usefully be considered.
We believe Scotland has an opportunity to contribute to the future of artificial intelligence not only through the development of technology, but also through the creation and commercial application of intellectual property, specialist knowledge and institutional capability.
We would very much like GENERAL INTELLIGENCE PLC to make a constructive contribution to that opportunity.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this introduction. We wish you every success in your important work.
Yours sincerely,
X from GENERAL INTELLIGENCE PLC