Artificial intelligence set to drive the next wave of global industrial revolution

The mainland and Hong Kong can both benefit from collaborating in talent and developments in artificial intelligence, officials said.

In July last year, the State Council issued a plan that set benchmarks for the nation’s AI sector, with the value of core AI industries predicted to exceed 1 trillion yuan ($147 billion) by 2030.

This year, the Hong Kong government’s budget included HK$40 billion ($5 billion) for the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. A further HK$10 billion was earmarked to establish two technology research clusters to focus on healthcare technology and AI.

Xu Bo, director of the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said AI will be the core driver of the next wave of the industrial revolution. “Its development depends on the efforts of talented people in future generations,” he said.

A lack of talent has been one of biggest obstacles to the development of the mainland’s AI sector, according to a recent report from Tsinghua University.

The report found that from 2013 to the first quarter of this year, the mainland’s AI sector attracted about 60 percent of global investment in the field, despite only having a talent pool of 18,230 people — about 9 percent of the global total, well below the United States’ 13.9 percent.

In April, the Ministry of Education launched a Five-Year Plan to remedy the talent shortage by nurturing at least 5,000 young professionals and 500 professors in AI from top universities.

However, Hong Kong’s economy is relatively unprepared to embrace an AI-led future, according to the Asian Index of Artificial Intelligence, published by the Asia Business Council in December.

The index ranked eight Asian economies and assessed their ability to capitalize on the opportunities brought by AI; the Chinese mainland topped the overall ranking by a wide margin, followed by Singapore and India, while Hong Kong ranked seventh.

The lack of AI-related equity funding, low startup activity and insufficient legislative support are some of the obstacles hindering Hong Kong’s AI growth, the report said.

Liu Chenglin, deputy director of the academy’s Institute of Automation, said the mainland has the funding, policies and industrial capabilities to support AI development, while Hong Kong’s universities are more explorative in basic research and much better connected with the global scientific community.

“The mainland and Hong Kong have many complementary advantages in developing artificial intelligence. Through scientific collaboration, they will both achieve great economic development,” he said.