A TALENTED computer scientist has been tackling the moral and safety issues around artificial intelligence after being selected to attend Oxford University as one of an emerging elite.

Richmond School and Sixth Form College student Matthew Masterman was one of just 50 chosen nationwide from 14,000 young people to take part in a computer challenge.

The 17-year-old, of Yarm, had just 45 minutes to tackle a series of questions which demanded the very best logical thinking to solve.

He had previously been selected from 132,000 students nationally to take part in the Bebras Computation Challenge, run by Oxford University and sponsored by Google, along with schoolmates Adam and Josh Dixon and Harold Raven.

The four not only achieved scores that put them at the top of their year groups, but placed them among 49 classmates who qualified for the next round, the TCS Oxford Computing Challenge, in March.

The computing challenge is among the toughest in the country with students set problems that require logical thinking against the clock.