Mr Morgan, who is Early Education Minister and a Bristol alum, was welcomed by academics and university staff at the Bristol Digital Futures Institute [BDFI] on Thursday afternoon.

During the visit he found out more about the work of the institute which is pioneering transformative approaches to digital innovation and forms part of the University’s TQ Research Hub alongside MyWorld, a University of Bristol-led programme for creative technologies.

Mr Morgan was also given a briefing on Isambard-AI, the UK’s fastest and most powerful supercomputer which is located at the University of Bristol. This went online earlier this year and will be used by a wide range of organisations from across the UK to utilise the power of AI, which is already propelling emerging technologies such as training large language models (LLMs), healthcare and robotics. The supercomputer will also play an essential role in critical areas such as AI safety, accelerating automated drug discovery and climate research.

The University’s Chief Digital and Information Officer spoke to Mr Morgan about the impact of AI on learning and research in recent years and how the University is addressing these challenges and opportunities via its digital and AI strategy which includes the use of Gen-AI tools to help students generate their own feedback and improve their work.

Mr Morgan said: "It was great to be back in Bristol to see firsthand the brilliant work the University of Bristol are doing at the cutting-edge of AI, data and tech in education. Using tech safely and effectively will be key to breaking down barriers to opportunity across the country."