China is driving Asia’s AI age – with some exceptions

China is leading the way with AI in Asia but more must be done to educate and re-engineer the work force to ensure successful adoption

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A screen shows a demonstration of a facial recognition software at the stall of the artificial intelligence solutions maker Horizon Robotics at the Security China 2018 exhibition on public safety and security in Beijing, China October 24, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Published: 6:00am, 22 Feb 2019Updated: 6:11am, 22 Feb 2019

As the new machine age looms, the use of AI technology is becoming a significant factor in business success, and one country that has really taken the AI bull by the horns, is China.

It’s no secret that the Chinese government and Chinese tech companies continue to invest heavily in building AI-related capabilities as part of their goal to make China a global AI leader, and now enterprises across industries are following suit.

Cognizant’s recent report, Humans + Machines, reveals that Chinese enterprises are more bullish than their counterparts in other Asia-Pacific countries when it comes to investing in AI technologies to prepare themselves for the future of work.

In fact, 88 per cent of Chinese companies surveyed cited intelligent machines as being the number one influence on the future of work in the next five years compared to a regional average of 82 per cent. As a result, Chinese business leaders expect AI-driven machines to power revenue growth of 14 per cent over the next five years, compared to the regional average of 12 per cent.

The findings are based on a survey conducted between May 2018 and July 2018 of 622 senior executives across various industries in Asia-Pacific, covering China, India, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Respondents were distributed across financial services, health care, insurance, life sciences, travel and hospitality, manufacturing and retail industries.

But that’s not all — Chinese businesses also expect a 25 per cent increase in workforce productivity from AI (compared to a regional average of 20 per cent) in the next five years. Given that China is home to the largest number of internet users in the world (who are most likely to share their data with feature-rich platforms) it is easy to understand why businesses there are so excited.