In November of 2019, an article about China’s quest for supremacy in the field of Artificial Intelligence started making the rounds. China’s actions in this regard are a product of recognizing the potential of AI which has by all standards become “man’s best friend”. A month later, another article was published by a different outlet citing the possibility of China outrunning the United States in Artificial Intelligence Capabilities.
The constant drive for supremacy in the field of tech and especially in Artificial Intelligence gives the ordinary tech enthusiast the impression that there is a competition of some sort between different countries and their respective tech industries. While this is so, we cannot understate the advancement the US and its many tech hubs have made in regards to AI.
Take Google for instance; a company that began as a search engine in the 1990s has now grown to a tech company that specializes in internet related services like online advertising, cloud computing, software, payments and more. Google’s application of AI is the most striking of all. The tech giant employed the concept to not only classify pictures and videos, but to process languages, improve search results, enhance facial recognition systems and shockingly to predict time of death!
Microsoft and Amazon are not left out in this. They both have used Artificial Intelligence to improve their businesses in several ways from allowing users to personalize experiences and improve search results. Thanks to AI you can get exactly what you are looking for on Amazon. Apple is also worth crediting. Healthcare apps on iOS and Macintosh systems, CarPlay and so on are results of creatively applying AI.
These and many more have shot the United States light years ahead in the AI revolution.
Does China stand a chance?
China’s goal is to catch up with the U.S. by 2025 and lead the world in the application of AI by 2030. Already it is graduating more than three times the number of engineers than any other country in the world and the government is paying more and more to accelerate AI initiatives. China already produces ten times the amount of data the U.S. turns out. And like Joe Toscano mentioned “If data is the new oil, then China is the new Saudi Arabia”. In some parts of the country, facial recognition is now used in public toilets to get access to toilet paper.
China’s military is also seeing applications of AI to create autonomous and intelligentized particularly unmanned systems and missile technology. The Asian giant also introduced facial recognition and autonomous vehicles into its military, all of which are manifestations of AI technology. As much as this broadens the horizon for Artificial Intelligence, it is quite worrying as the AI systems can interpret mere bluffs as threats and then escalate conflicts.
The preceding are heavily supported by the private sector in China. Companies such as Saelum, Awakening Vector inc, Lionbridge, Sensetime, Clare.AI and many more not mentioned are tech companies dedicated to AI. It’s safe to say that the advancements the Asian country has witnessed are a result of the pursuit of these companies. There is also the intention of acquiring talent and young people with skills. Each of these companies have remuneration packages of about US$25 to US$100/ hr.
Will China emerge the AI centre of the World?
The Chinese vision of surpassing the west in the development and application of AI by 2030 is a long shot but is also tenaciously pursued. China’s development within a short period of time with regards AI points to the fact that it does have the capacity to surpass the United States and the rest of the world. Simultaneously, Chinese tech giants must remember that the west will not be stagnant in the development of AI. For instance, google in more ways than one has found new ways of applying AI to help the technology grow exponentially. For instance, Kubernetes or K8 as a production ready environment is being applied to AI increasingly- China is bound to grow and succeed.