The partnership will focus on applying AI to social research, as well as developing strong ethical rules for the technology’s use.

The companies said that by applying AI technologies to social research, they hoped to analyse more complex and substantially larger data sources.

Craig Watkins, UK chief executive at Verian, said: “Solving the next generation of public policy challenges requires a unique combination of both human and technological intelligence.

“Through our partnership with Faculty, we will accelerate the innovation we are already driving in the advancement of methodological research frameworks, helping to ensure that we are providing the most robust evidence base for decision making in government and across the public sector.”

Tom Nixon, director for government at Faculty, said: “AI is an epoch-defining technology – and it is now set to revolutionise how organisations do public research and analysis.

“For this reason, we’re very excited about partnering with the world-class team at Verian to offer new services to public and private sector clients, while fundamentally rethinking how large-scale research projects are conceived and delivered.”