Govt serious in driving AI development: Analysts
The ability of a country to implement digital transformation and adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technology to stimulate innovation, enhance productivity and competitiveness has become one of the benchmarks in attracting foreign investments.
This was underscored by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who wants Malaysia to swiftly develop an AI ecosystem, particularly to cultivate a skilled workforce to meet the demands of technology giants expressing interest in investing in the country.
The government’s commitment to nurturing the AI ecosystem is evident through various initiatives such as “AI Untuk Rakyat” and AI Sandbox 2024, with the goal of establishing 900 AI startups and nurturing 13,000 new talents by 2026.
On Friday, Anwar launched three additional initiatives – the AI Talent Roadmap for Malaysia 2024-2030, the AI Faculty (FAI) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and the Malaysia AI Consortium.
UTM AI and Robotics Centre researcher Dr Ahmad Athif Mohd Faudzi said these initiatives encompass holistic aspects of AI ecosystem development, which would complement one another.
“With rapid developments in Western countries and China, for instance, we need to harness and enhance Malaysian expertise to drive the economy with AI and robotics technology.”
Ahmad Athif said the AI Talent Roadmap programme covers short, medium and longterm planning, supported by the establishment of the FAI offering a Bachelor of AI programme with the first intake of students in October this year.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Data Science and Computing Faculty Deputy Dean Dr Hadhrami Ab Ghani said the prime minister’s emphasis on accelerating the use and development of AI is timely, considering that the technology has been rapidly evolving worldwide.
“Without such serious emphasis as demonstrated by the prime minister, Malaysia risks falling behind and could struggle to compete with other nations, despite already showing positive signs of economic growth through diverse foreign investments since his tenure as the 10th prime minister.
“All parties entrusted with spearheading AI usage must possess qualifications, dedication and be transparent as well as be guided and monitored by relevant authorities in the ministry or at the relevant levels.
“Close collaboration among all involved agencies and stakeholders is key. AI is not a new concept, and numerous experts in Malaysia can be leveraged, particularly from universities and industries.”
On the FAI, Hadhrami expressed hope that similar faculties could be set up in other universities to provide more opportunities for Malaysians to learn AI.
“AI is increasingly diverse and not confined solely to computer and computer science students. Therefore, AI faculties, if expanded nationwide, are likely to be extremely popular.”