We live in a very exciting era, particularly in terms of technology, with new types of tech being pioneered to do bigger and better things. Every country wants to be part of this technological revolution, one of these countries being China. In fact, they have set a challenge which will make for a very impressive achievement if they can successfully pull it off. China aims to become the world leader in artificial intelligence.

As one of the most technologically advanced cultures in our world it is quite an achievable goal for China to become experts in this very technical and complex area. China and its people are known innovators, for example, they took the British idea of the train and changed and improved the concept and made it so that China has some of the fastest, most reliable trains in the world.

They are already proficient in understanding and utilising AI as it has already been used in schools, games, for private and commercial uses and even for government uses too. In their efforts to get even closer to their goal, they have frequently been having conferences in Shanghai for the purpose of discussing the various features that need to be considered for developing AI, such as image, video and processing queries. As well as this, a high ranking member of New America Security, Paul Scharre has confirmed that China is “investing significant amounts of capital in research and development” his demonstrates that they are being pragmatic about the whole situation so they definitely have potential if they continue to focus and work together.

However, there are some who are apprehensive about fulfilling such a monumental achievement. Specifically, people aren’t too happy with the thought of being monitored by AI and peoples’ privacy being put in jeopardy. However China has said they are making an effort to set up ethical standpoints.

Another factor that may stop China from achieving their goal comes because of their relatively short deadline they have set, 10 years. Although a decade sounds like a lengthy deadline to really innovate a technology, especially for a country as hard working and dedicated as China, there are things that can go wrong. It is also important to remember that although China is working on AI, so are many other countries. For example, the USA is putting out more and more products with AI, in the span of a decade the US has gone from the somewhat primitive Siri to the impressively convenient Alexa.

So it’s quite a tough outcome to predict once you take into consideration the factors mentioned throughout this article. But since they still have a decade to dominate in this technology sector, with frequent meetings and continued application through their various industries, China could well be on its way to be the world leader in Artificial Intelligence.

Resources

https://www.dw.com/en/whos-afraid-of-artificial-intelligence-in-china/a-45546972