In 1995, when still very young, you won Malta’s first ever medal at the International Olympiads in Mathematical Informatics. Was that a sign of things to come?

It was indeed. The first time I saw a personal computer in the late 1980s. I instantly knew I wanted to work on them and started learning programming. Back then IT was still not something common to do – and I had to largely learn programming from books and materials that you got on floppy disks. I was lucky that in my post-secondary school at the time I had a team of truly dedicated teachers who saw my potential and encouraged me to do more than just the basic A-level curriculum, which at the time was more or less based entirely on the UK system

Additionally, in Malta at that time there was an influx of ex-Soviet Union and Eastern European experts who were migrating into Malta – so I had a wonderful mix of a traditional British computer science education mixed with concepts from Eastern Europe, which have a long history in maths and problem solving.

The problem solving aspect proved to be fascinating for me – so much so that I used to spend hours training (using a book of examples in Hungarian) to sharpen up my skills. After a whole year of doing this, I qualified to represent Malta at the IOI, which is organised under the auspices of UNESCO and IFIP with the organisation of the Olympics Committee, being one of five international science Olympics. I still remember the surprised look on everyone’s face when Malta won a bronze medal – but I had practised so much and was sure of my talent that I knew deep in my heart I would win on a global level.

This event obviously led me to keep trying hard things and was a milestone in the formation of my entrepreneurial character and also influenced me greatly in taking up my first degree in AI and Computer Science.

You’ve had a colourful career, from investing to working in the UK and Silicon Valley and then back to Malta. What’s next?

I firmly believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents the future for humanity and human society. Judging by analogy by how smartphones have been adopted so rapidly and ingrained so deeply in everyday society and how AI is already being used in everyday life without most people realising it, all the signs are there that the future holds an AI-driven economy.

We are on the verge of a revolution that could be as big as the beginning of the industrial revolution. I often liken the creation of intelligent AI systems to the invention of the steam engine for the Victorians. Once automation becomes commonplace and people adjust to having certain categories of work performed by AI and robotic machines, it will lead to societal changes – changes that will allow people to do more creative work and let AI do more mundane and downright boring and dangerous work.

Umnai is creating advanced solutions that can explain themselves and build trust with the end users by being completely transparent

Since April 2018 I have completely divested myself of most operational roles I had to focus exclusively on AI. I have had to catch up with 18 years or so of research – surprisingly the task was not that difficult as the training I had years ago is still very relevant – the major changes are mostly in the hardware speed and the sheer quantity and availability of data, which is what has fuelled the rapid rise of AI in the last few years.

I have set up a company, Umnai, which is focusing on creating new AI technology that goes beyond the current narrow AI paradigm, where you get an answer from the AI without any form of explanation or justification of how it got the answer in the first place.

Umnai is creating advanced solutions that can explain themselves and build trust with the end users by being completely transparent – without losing any of the benefits of modern AI implementations. We have a number of patent-pending technologies that will advance AI, in both software and hardware implementations – the future looks very bright as some of these problems have been around for more than 20 years without having a practical solution.

You were one of the first advocates of AI in Malta. What potential did you see back then, and what potential do you see now?

The potential of AI was always clear – the use of an intelligent system to do intelligent tasks and opening up the usefulness of computers to humans has always been appealing.

AI, when done right, can be a valuable gift to humanity as it will change our entire society positively, just as the invention of engines and electricity did during the Industrial Revolution.

The potential has been boosted thanks to the increases in hardware and the commoditisation of powerful devices and data. When I first started developing AI, having a device with the power of a standard smartphone of today was something bordering on science fiction. Nowadays, no one even gives a thought when, for example Facebook auto-tags your social media photos instantly.

The potential to disrupt a wide variety of industries is there – as a small country Malta can find its own niche areas and provide the right regulatory and commercial environment to promote AI to take hold and flourish. Just as other industries like gaming and the financial sector have flourished in Malta, AI can help the country continue on its accelerated economic growth path.

Does Malta have the right infrastructure and human resources to support the development of AI?

Malta has the beginnings of an AI development and testing infrastructure, largely thanks to the beneficial crossover effects of the gaming and financial services industries. AI needs rather different infrastructural requirements for certain tasks, using specialised hardware not normally used in standard commercial applications, and this is an area where Malta will need to invest.

As a test-bed, Malta does offer some advantages although space is obviously an issue and we do need more high quality engineering workspaces available, with adequate power and access. Certain testing, like driverless car testing, will be rather difficult to do in general in Malta, although sections of the new roads being built could now enable more effective testing of such new technology. Problematic areas like potholes are being addressed, making Malta more viable in this respect, especially when coupled with the vision of having an all-electric or hybrid vehicle fleet within a foreseeable timeframe.

Human resources is the current bottleneck to Malta’s growth – more expertise and people are needed as there are simply too few AI graduates around. It is interesting to note that Malta has one of the oldest running AI graduate degree programmes since 1995, thanks to the visionary efforts back then to set up the first department of AI at the University of Malta. Thankfully the stability and good economic, political and social climate and the weather in Malta makes it attractive to foreign experts to spend a stint here, which is probably the only viable option to develop AI further in Malta – but more people will be certainly needed.

This is a good thing if we want Malta to continue growing rather than stagnating and eventually falling backward with respect to other countries. Innovation is one of the main ways forward. A key driver would be to increase the amount of R&D funds available for AI companies – there are too few sources available and too much bureaucracy at the moment for Malta to use the massive amounts of EU funds available. This is something that will happen gradually, just like the success of the gaming industry led to a much more business-friendly environment in Malta.

What would be a successful marriage between blockchain and AI?

AI can utilise blockchain, especially for the distributed ledger features that are useful in ensuring that a transaction has actually been successfully executed and in building trust amongst different parties, some of which may be AI entities themselves. The use of cryptocurrency can also be useful to pay for micro-services that are performed by AI, especially when the AI entity itself has the right legal measures in place to be able to enter into a contract for services.

The current public blockchain implementations are in general too slow for AI to utilise them on a large scale. I see the main use to be more related to auditing and tracing the decision of AI, and recording the way it has behaved in a tamper-proof manner. For instance, driverless cars may in the future have a complete diagnostic log stored on a blockchain that will help assess traffic accidents in a fairer and transparent manner.

AI, when done right, can be a valuable gift to humanity as it will change our entire society positively

What added value does automation and machine intelligence bring to sectors such as finance and law?

Certain sectors like finance and law that are both regulated and by nature codify information are more suited for current AI solutions than others. In finance, AI can help traders make better decisions on what stock to buy or sell, and it can help normal everyday people spot inefficient patterns in their expenditure and thus let them save money. AI can also look at the state of your finances and products and services that you spend money on regularly and suggest money-saving alternatives.

Legal AI solutions can help in analysing commercial transactions automatically and also provide flags and insights into unacceptable clauses and conditions. In the courts, AI can also help in assessing a case, especially commercial cases, against current law, acting as an intelligent assistant that will undoubtedly speed up case resolution and thus help justice take place in a more timely and impartial manner.

Assisting, not replacing, people

As Umnai’s chief executive officer, Angelo Dalli is responsible for leading the company’s commercial, product and technology strategy. Umnai was founded as an innovative AI focused solutions provider that is creating new AI technology that can explain itself and its decisions while helping to assist people rather than replacing them, with an emphasis on achieving a positive social impact.

Dalli has published over 23 scientific publications in Europe and the US and has over 20 years of experience in various executive positions in technology, entertainment and fintech companies. He has also represented Malta in various international events and one of his first international achievements was to win a bronze medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in 1995.

As a serial entrepreneur, Dalli was involved in four IPOs and invested in more than 40 successful companies. This long track record was recognised in 2014, when he was awarded with Malta’s Top Entrepreneur of the Year award.