Artificial Intelligence Has Proven To Be A Disruptive Technology With Applications Across Every Sector.

Artificial intelligence has proven to be a disruptive technology with applications across every sector. Sensing the potential to dominate the market early, many enterprising tech companies have put their efforts toward improving the foundations of AI and discovering new use cases for it. AI is, of course, a broad term that can encompass any algorithmic technology, ranging from autonomous vehicles to medical record systems. It is therefore challenging to define the nebulous “AI race” in certain terms, with countries trying to get an edge on their national rivals without necessarily knowing what advantages this will provide. Nevertheless, the proliferation of tech companies offers some insight into which countries have best explored this new frontier for technology.

China has proven itself to be a contender in terms of both government support for AI and the generation of massive quantities of data to improve machine learning algorithms. The country has declared its intentions to become a global AI leader by 2030, with goals to hit an industry value of $150 billion. Of course, the question then becomes what AI technology is used for by the CCP. Critics of China have accused the country of leveraging new technologies for the purpose of monitoring and suppressing its citizens. One then wonders what the benefits of outpacing China in the AI race truly is—is the end goal something that other countries in the world should strive for?