EAST Lancashire's own dedicated research centre into artificial intelligence has helped launch a nationwide competition - to help humans.

The Applied Knowledge Research Institute, which is an arm of Blackburn College, joined up with the British Computer Society for the contest, Progress Towards Machine Intelligence, at a conference at Peterhouse College, Cambridge.

The competition was intended to encourage the development of machine intelligence and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas.

Machines using their intelligence to help people was the theme. The smart walker, for instance, steers people away from danger and helps them to navigate through gaps and doorways.

The conference organisers hope that the competition will encourage more research and further practical and inventive applications for machine intelligence.

The Applied Knowledge Research Institute, based in Challenge Way, aims to work towards a greater understanding of the application, organisation, representation and dissemination of knowledge.