What's the current situation of Artificial Intelligence in the Research and funding sector?

Today, we are on the cusp of witnessing a widespread implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) across several sectors. As artificial intelligence technologies are pushing the frontiers of usability and innovation, countries are racing to diffuse its applications on public, private and social front. While we inch close to achieving total disruption, artificial intelligence becomes a key driver of productivity and GDP growth for every nation. With the USA and China having occupied the leading ranks in AI research, nations like the UK, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, India and others are striving to etch themselves on global map.

There is no denying that every week we come across new publications and studies about how AI algorithms have addressed yet another challenge faced by humans. Every now and then, collaborations spanning from countries to companies and institutes imply huge investments on research grounds. Yet why every nation is on a different step of AI ladder? Are disparities in the artificial intelligence readiness among governments favoring only some countries to become testing grounds for AI research projects? And will that widen the prevailing inequality gap among nations?

Digital transformation has had a radical effect on international and national systems and structures. Given the fact that artificial intelligence is still in its infancy, every new development will only deepen the effects. One of the key indicator of AI activity in a nation is its interest in research programmes and funding. China has published an impressive number of research papers on deep learning which is comparatively more than other leading countries. Nations like India, Japan are powerhouses of digital data. However, according to a new report from the Center for Data Innovation, USA still holds a substantial lead globally. With tech behemoths like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and IBM investing heavily in artificial intelligence, the USA still managed to hold the axial position in AI research.

An article in Tech Wire Asia reveals that thanks to beaming investment in startups and research and development funding, the USA achieved an overall score of 44.6 points in a new study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The study assessed artificial intelligence using 30 separate metrics including human talent, research activity, commercial development, and investment in hardware and software – with a score assigned to each metric for each region, on a 100-point scale. Recently, the USA announced National Defense Authorization Act to give US$6.4 billion in government money over five years for research on artificial intelligence and its applications. This act will push Washington toward building up a national strategy on AI.

Although USA is the front-runners in AI technologies like machine learning and neuro-linguistic programming, China has also been leveling up its gameplay, since the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is not surprising since China has always held ambitions significantly high for becoming the AI Superpower of the world. For this, the State Council of People's Republic of China has declared to become a US$150 billion AI global leader by 2030. Even the report from the Center for Data Innovation states that China is rapidly closing the gap. Having just under 30,000 papers, the mandarin nation represents 28% of the world's artificial intelligence research production. In comparison, USA holds about 18% of research papers on AI. The report also points out that China has effectively surpassed European Union in terms of both investments and research papers published.

Many governments and businesses across the Middle East are also beginning to recognize the global transition towards artificial intelligence and its advanced technologies. In fact, UAE was the first nation to have appointed a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.

Meanwhile, owing to rising enthusiasm in robotics, Russia, Japan and South Korea will move further in this direction, in terms of research – both considering theoretical parameters and practical industry use cases. Robots are already used widely across industry verticals and are projected to spread throughout the consumer market in this decade. As Japan is experiencing a working population decline, the AI-automation market will witness impressive leaps. So will also Germany – Europe's leading hub for artificial intelligence innovation.

In today's space-race redux, the above-mentioned facts provide a snapshot of the global state of investments and national governments' efforts to boost artificial intelligence research projects. It is high time every nation (emerging and developed) understands this technology's potential to retain, and possibly advance their competitive positions in core industries and reap maximized benefits from it.