Opinion | Who will win the AI contest of the century?
While the US and China appear to be in a two-horse race, no country can afford to ignore AI development and adoption
The arrival of artificial intelligence, robotics and new technology has been heralded as a game changer. But how will it unfold, and who will be able to take advantage of AI to win the contest of the century: the United States, China or some other country?
Writing in Foreign Affairs in 2023, James Manyika, senior vice-president of technology and society at Google, and Nobel laureate economist Michael Spence argued that “by the beginning of the next decade, the shift to AI could become a leading driver of global prosperity”. These gains would come from not just the rapid advances in AI in creating new content and applications in daily life, but also its rapid spread through the democratisation of innovation.
But for it to happen, Manyika and Spence say, we need a new policy framework as well as a new mindset towards AI, and that “AI technologies must be embraced as tools that can enhance, rather than undermine, human potential and ingenuity”. I think the AI revolution has arrived faster than expected.
The contest of the century is thus between all countries. In this cutthroat race, with Big Tech seeking to dominate the “pay-by-subscription” game, we may end up being mentally and financially colonised in different tech domains.
This is where the Global South can innovate its way through open-access systems that meet individual or local needs, without giving away valuable data by choosing to follow one algorithm platform or becoming locked into “pay for upgrade” contracts.