Reinventure invests in next generation artificial intelligence company, Akin, which aims to develop personal AI capable of forming intrinsic relationships with people and managing complex problems. By replicating human ‘intuitive’ problem solving rather than logical reasoning, Akin is able to model human pattern recognition, mental models, and implicit conceptual systems for quick decision making, even in environments where data is uncertain or insufficient.

Entrepreneur and chief executive of Akin, Liesl Yearsly, is an experienced entrepreneur and AI specialist, having exited two previous businesses in the space. Her previous company, Cognea, was sold to IBM and now underpins the technology of Watson, IBM’s analytics and AI product.

Current artificial intelligence products do not have the autonomy to tackle the challenges of complex environments in everyday life. AI assistants like Siri or Google Assistant are only able to carry out simple instructions or answer basic questions, for example, “set an alarm for 8am” or “what is the temperature tomorrow?”. In contrast, Akin aims to integrate AI more into daily life, focusing on areas such as daily shopping, health, education, home and financial management, enabling it to make complex decisions on our behalf.

Managing partner Simon Cant said Akin was appealing as it was looking at AI to improve human life and build trust, not just sell more products.

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