Singapore is best prepared than every other city on the planet for the approaching AI revolution, while cities in China may struggle despite recent advances in AI technology, based on a brand new report from global consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
Cities all over the world are searching for ways to make use of artificial intelligence and related technologies to spice up economic growth and improve living standards, including by reducing pollution and traffic congestion. The query, nonetheless, is whether or not government policy can sustain with rapid technological progress.
To answer that query, New York-based Oliver Wyman released its inaugural Global Cities AI Readiness Index on Thursday, rating 105 cities based on 31 indicators in 4 categories: vision, execution, asset base and development trajectory.
“We ask ourselves where will cities be in the coming era of artificial intelligence? Today, frankly, most cities around the world are thinking mainly about smart cities and not about broader strategic issues related to artificial intelligence,” said Timocin Pervane, partner at Oliver Wyman and writer of the report.
Singapore topped the general rankings with a near-perfect rating within the vision category, which measures government plans to reply to changes brought by artificial intelligence, including the best way to reply to recent workforce needs and modernize infrastructure reminiscent of 5G broadband.
“Singapore has a very comprehensive vision that recognizes the potential for societal challenges and risks posed by technology,” Pervane said. “The visions of most cities only take into account the possibilities that artificial intelligence brings, but do not take into account the ability to control its drawbacks.”
The Southeast Asian city-state is certainly one of the few governments on the planet that has included ethical considerations in its AI development plan, and can be considering ways to deal with community concerns about AI. This prediction also helped Singapore top the 2019 Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index by consultants Oxford Insights released earlier this 12 months.
Singapore also performed well within the asset base category, which assesses the dimensions of mental property, talent and technology investments, in addition to labor productivity and education levels.
London, New York, San Francisco and Paris accomplished the highest five. The next highest-rated city in Asia was Seoul, which got here in sixteenth place.
Cities in China where firms are investing heavily in AI research and development fell further within the rankings, with Beijing in 18th place and Shanghai in thirty seventh place.
“China has a very clear and very strong focus on AI and AI strategy, but that is not an indicator of who is leading the development of AI,” Pervane said. “It is not at the top of the list because its vision of AI does not more closely consider broader social and economic impacts.”
On the opposite hand, based on Oliver Wyman, Chinese cities have the best growth potential within the era of artificial intelligence.
For example, Shenzhen, which scored the very best out of all 105 cities within the AI ”development trajectory” category, is a poster child for this growth story in China. The report found that with supportive government policies reminiscent of special economic zones and tax cuts to draw investment, a rapidly growing population and world-leading universities, the town is well-positioned to leverage the support AI provides to scale up. activities.
Other high-ranking Asian cities include Hong Kong (twentieth), Tokyo (forty first) and Taipei (forty sixth).
