AISB

What AISB does

AISB (The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour) is a UK-incorporated learned society founded in 1964, recognised as the world's oldest AI society and the largest in the United Kingdom. It operates as a nonprofit membership organisation with 74 employees, an international membership drawn from academia and industry, and a roster of Fellows including Professor Michael Wooldridge (Oxford), Professor Alan Bundy (Edinburgh), and Professor Anthony Cohn (Leeds). Its core offerings are non-commercial: the annual AISB Convention (a multi-symposia forum hosted at rotating UK universities, with AISB 2025 at UWE Bristol and AISB 2026 scheduled at Sussex), the Loebner Prize (the world's longest-running Turing Test competition, organised by AISB since 2014), a five-tier membership programme (student/retired, ordinary at £55, senior, corporate, institutional), student travel grants supporting attendance at ECAI, ICML, EMNLP, and ISBI, joint Spotlight Seminars with AIxIA, peer-reviewed convention proceedings, and the AISBX public-outreach format.

AISB's technology footprint is community orchestration rather than product development: it maintains a WordPress-based website (aisb.org.uk) for membership applications, event registration, and proceedings distribution, plus a YouTube channel for free seminar and convention recordings. There is no proprietary AI model, training pipeline, or commercial software offering.

The revenue model is membership-fee-driven, supplemented by event registrations and modest corporate sponsorships (e.g., Royal Bank of Canada for AISB 2025, DELL member-discount partnership, Big Data & AI World / TechEx media partnership). AISB is a member of the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI/EurAI), co-hosted the IACAP/AISB-25 conference at Twente in July 2025, and serves UK, European, and global academic and industry segments focused on AI, cognitive science, and AI ethics.

Name

AISB

Legal name

The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour

Website

https://aisb.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

AISB is the world's oldest AI society, founded in 1964 and headquartered in the UK. As a nonprofit learned society, it serves international academic and industry members through its annual convention, the Loebner Prize Turing Test competition, student grants, and a five-tier membership programme.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Learned Society / Academic AI Research Membership

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMACAG

AI & Machine Learning (Foundations & Applied)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Coding & Computer Science Programs

SECONDARYHDAAAKAL

Audit, Explainability & Accountability Tooling (traceability, reporting)

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/AI Security, Privacy & Model Governance

SECONDARYBPAEAHAJ

Responsible AI, AI Governance & Compliance Services

Business & Public Services/IT & Digital Services (Managed Services, Systems Integration)/Data, Analytics & AI Services

Keywords

• Learned society
• AI research community
• Academic membership
• AI conventions
• Cognitive science

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: AISB generates primary revenue from annual membership fees across five categories: student/retired, ordinary, senior, corporate, and institutional. Following a 2024/2025 committee review, international members now receive the same rates as UK/EU members. The new ordinary member rate is £55, representing an increase of under 15% from the prior rate. A new three-year discounted student/unwaged/retired rate was introduced.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

AISB is a UK-based learned society founded in 1964 that provides membership services and convenes the Artificial Intelligence and cognitive science research community through its annual multi-symposia convention, symposia calls, publication of convention proceedings, the Loebner Prize Turing Test competition, student travel grants for major AI conferences, and public engagement programmes. It sells five tiers of annual membership (student/retired, ordinary, senior, corporate, institutional) and partners with EurAI/ECCAI and media outlets to deliver conferences, seminars, and outreach events.

Product overview

AISB (The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour) is a learned society offering a membership-based platform for AI research and collaboration, not a commercial product company. The core offerings consist of the Annual AISB Convention (featuring symposia on AI and cognitive science topics), the Loebner Prize Turing Test competition, AISB Discussions publication platform, Student Grants funding program, AISBX public outreach events, Spotlight Seminars on AI (joint with AIxIA), Convention Proceedings publications, and Public Engagement Programs. These programs are designed to support, promote, and disseminate AI research among its international academic and industry membership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AISB Membership Annual membership programme offering individuals and institutions access to AISB bulletin emails, convention discounts, ECAI conference discounts, AISB Discussions publications, convention proceedings, student grant eligibility, and partner member benefits such as DELL equipment discounts.
• AISB Annual Convention Flagship annual in-person conference featuring multiple co-located symposia, invited lectures, plenary sessions, and public engagement events where AI researchers present papers, network, and discuss current topics in AI and cognitive science.
• Loebner Prize Annual Turing Test competition in which chatbot developers compete to create the most humanlike conversational AI, organised by AISB as a public-outreach event that pairs technical evaluation with broad public engagement.
• Student Grants Funding programme that supports student members in attending major AI conferences such as ECAI, ICML, EMNLP, and ISBI, enabling PhD students and early-career researchers to participate in international AI research events.
• AISB Discussions Publication platform for submissions related to AI research, allowing members to share findings and engage in scholarly discourse within the AI community.
• Convention Proceedings Peer-reviewed academic publications from AISB conventions, documenting research presented at annual symposia across various AI and cognitive science topics.
• AISBX Public and business outreach event combining the Loebner Prize chatbot competition with art exhibitions exploring creativity and technology, attracting both academic and public audiences.
• AISB Spotlight Seminars on AI Joint virtual seminar series with AIxIA featuring talks by leading AI researchers on topics including neural verification, commonsense reasoning, and NLP evaluation, supporting ongoing education and outreach beyond the annual convention.
• Public Engagement Programs Outreach initiatives promoting public understanding of AI, including endorsement of educational content, partnerships with events like Big Data & AI World, and support for initiatives such as CLAIRE (pan-European AI research network).

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,500+ researchers engaged at ECAI 2024 with support from AISB student grants
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• DELLminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 November 2025AISB has partnered with DELL to offer AISB members discounts on DELL computer equipment and accessories. Members access the benefit through the Members Area on the AISB website.
• International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2025AISB and IACAP co-hosted a joint conference on Philosophy of Computing and AI (IACAP/AISB-25) from 1-3 July 2025 at the University of Twente, NL. The conference combined symposia from both organizations covering AI, philosophy of computing, ethics, and cognitive science.
• 4TU.ethicsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 20254TU.ethics co-organised and sponsored a free workshop with reception on the Monday before the IACAP/AISB-25 conference, held in July 2025 at the University of Twente.
• Big Data & AI World / TechExmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 January 2024AISB has an ongoing media and content partnership with Big Data & AI World events, including the London edition (ExCeL) and TechEx North America. AISB contributes chairs, panels, and keynotes, and is a registered partner for free attendee registration. AISB also partnered with the Frankfurt edition in 2024.
• CLAIRE (Confederation of Laboratories for AI Research in Europe)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2019AISB supports the CLAIRE initiative, which seeks to strengthen European excellence in AI research and innovation through the establishment of a pan-European Confederation of Laboratories for AI Research in Europe.
• European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) / European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAISB is a member of the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI), now known as EurAI. AISB members receive discounts to the ECAI conference as a benefit of membership. AISB's president has previously served as president of EurAI, and AISB nominates candidates for EurAI awards.
• Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems, University of PlymouthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems at the University of Plymouth runs the CRNS@Webinar series of virtual research workshops, which AISB has promoted and supported as part of its mission to foster robotics and AI research.
• The Royal SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Royal Society awarded the Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture 2025 to AISB Fellow Professor Michael Wooldridge. AISB also partners with the Royal Society for public lectures and engagement events.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ACL (Association for Computational Linguistics): ACL is the international scientific society for NLP/CL research and runs major conferences (ACL, EMNLP — both funded by AISB student grants). It is structurally similar to AISB as a learned society that publishes proceedings, runs student programmes, and awards fellowships.
• EurAI (European Association for Artificial Intelligence): EurAI is the European coordinating body for national AI societies (including AISB). It runs the ECAI conference, awards the Distinguished Service Award, and provides the supranational governance layer in which AISB operates directly — making it the closest structural peer.
• CogSci Society: The Cognitive Science Society organises the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society and is a sister learned society to AISB, given AISB's explicit focus on 'Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour' including cognitive science. They serve overlapping academic audiences.
• IEEE Computational Intelligence Society: IEEE CIS is the IEEE society for computational intelligence, covering AI, neural networks, and fuzzy systems. It operates as a learned society organising flagship conferences (e.g., IJCNN, IEEE CEC) and publications analogous to AISB's offerings.
• ACM SIGAI (Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence): ACM SIGAI is the AI-focused special interest group within ACM, organising AI conferences and publications. Like AISB, it is a member-based AI research community supporting conferences, awards, and student activities within the broader computing discipline.
• AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence): AAAI is the largest US-based AI scientific society, organising the AAAI Conference and publishing AI Magazine. Like AISB, it is a learned society for AI researchers, runs student programmes, and awards prestigious fellowships (e.g., AAAI Fellow, Herbert A. Simon Prize — which AISB Fellow Cohn won).
• AIxIA (Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence): AIxIA is the Italian national AI learned society and AISB's co-organiser of the Spotlight Seminars on AI. As a fellow national AI society in Europe, it shares AISB's membership model, annual convention structure, and academic focus on AI research.

Emerging players

• NeurIPS Foundation: The NeurIPS Foundation organises the NeurIPS conference, the largest AI/ML research conference. While not a traditional learned society, it competes for the same AI researcher audience as AISB and represents the kind of large-scale, well-funded alternative that could absorb academic attention away from AISB's convention.

Regional players

• CLAIRE (Confederation of Laboratories for AI Research in Europe): CLAIRE is a pan-European initiative AISB publicly supports to coordinate AI research excellence across Europe. It operates in a similar space (European AI research coordination) but with a broader continental mandate and more recent institutional backing, partially overlapping AISB's European role.

Broad incumbents

• BCS (British Computer Society) / Chartered Institute for IT: BCS is the UK's chartered professional body for IT, with broader remit than AISB but overlapping UK membership base. Both are UK-based learned societies serving computing professionals, though BCS is significantly larger and covers all of IT rather than specialising in AI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@aisb.society
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aisb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about AISB