China has created tech ‘new world order’ in areas like AI and data collection, says US think tank
- China will continue to assert ‘prolific dominance’ in multiple areas this year, according to the Future Today Institute’s 2020 Tech Trends Report
- Despite slowing growth in China’s economy, ‘it would be a mistake’ to assume the country has lost its influence, the report says
“The growth of China’s economy might be slowing, but it would be a mistake to assume that the People’s Republic of China has lost its influence,” said the Future Today Institute in its 2020 Tech Trends Report released on Monday. “China has a rapidly-expanding middle class, an educated and trained workforce and a government that executes on long-term plans.”
The institute projected that China will continue to assert “prolific dominance” this year, as it races against the US and other countries for global leadership in areas such as AI, bioengineering and space exploration.
“If data is the new oil, then China is the new OPEC,” the report stated. “The country’s massive population – nearing 1.4 billion people – offers researchers and start-ups there command of what may be the most valuable natural resource in the future – human data – without the privacy and security restrictions common in much of the rest of the world.”
How China is applying AI to multiple sectors and becoming a model
The kind of rich data the Chinese are mining can be used to train AI to detect patterns used in everything from education and manufacturing to retail and military applications, according to the think tank, which is based in Washington, DC.
Founded by Amy Webb, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Future Today researches, models and prototypes future risks and opportunities.
Those nine companies not only drive most research, funding, government involvement and consumer-grade AI applications in the world, but also “wield huge influence” over funding AI start-ups and pushing mergers and acquisitions in the industry, according to the institute.
These, however, “lack inter-agency collaboration and coordinated efforts” to streamline goals, research and development efforts as well as funding, the institute added.
(Alibaba is the parent company of the Post.)
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