Over the last 250 years, we have journeyed from the industrial revolution to the sixth wave of technology related to AI & IoT, robots & drones, cleantech. Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian political economist, explained this phenomenon better in his theory of innovation cycles where he examined the role of innovation concerning long-wave business cycles. In support of Schumpeter, MKAI’s Executive Chair, Richard Foster-Fletcher, questioned how this sixth wave, marked by artificial intelligence and digitization differs from other technology waves.
Technological innovation is used to solve complex problems, so complex that the human brain struggles to understand some of the decision-making and automated systems that are used to find solutions. However, there are always two sides to a coin. On the one hand, automation of procedures, predictive analytics, and data processing can help the B2B sector grow. On the other hand, there are always side effects of the risks for using AI-as-a-Service due to lack of moral compass while implementing them. Some of these risks are identified as risks to data capture, covert surveillance.
Innovators always seek to revitalize, extend and reconstruct the status quo in their given fields, wherever it is needed. Quite often, they are the rejects, outcasts, sub-citizens, etc., of the very societies to which they bring so much sustenance. Often they are people who endure great personal tragedy in their lives. Whatever the case, whether accepted or rejected, rich or poor, they are forever guided by that great and eternal constant — the creative urge.
John Coltrane
Eternal constant for innovation — the creative urge
Originally appearing in the December 16, 1951, in the issue of The New York Times Magazine, at the end of the article “The best answer to fanaticism: Liberalism,” British philosopher, mathematician, historian, and social critic Bertrand Russell wrote:
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”
The same goes for technology. Why should China fear to be eccentric in opinion when pursuing to be the world leader in AI by 2030. Following their AI strategy, this statement puts China in a superior position to the US and its allies, who want to, at least in some capacity, democratize access to AI research tools.
Innovations that arise from research – objectives, and accomplishments
According to the media release related to the responsible AI topic, computer scientist Lyne Parker pointed out that countries’ regulation bodies should be open-minded when appropriately using AI. The main objective is not to violate human rights like some authoritarian countries do.
Following Lyne Parker’s statement, Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot mentioned that it’s crucial to make sure that there is enough funding for people doing valuable cutting-edge research, especially in these dynamic times. Once the objectives are met and desired outcomes are accomplished, the next step is implementing these solutions. Therefore, there is a need for quality assurance and quality control, before it goes to the end-users. Without these steps, responsible use of AI tools will just remain a phrase in science papers.
Ethical principles and achieving internal, technical goals
Following the Semantic Scholar’s project organized by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which analyzed over two million academic AI papers published through the end of 2018, the results showed that China had already surpassed the US in published AI papers back then. As stated in a report from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, while 42 of the 62 major AI labs are outside the US, 68% of the staff are located within the United States. The study is only the latest to argue that the AI industry is built on inequality.
The bigger picture shows clearly how innovations that arise from research and the research objectives in the AI field are influenced by many factors that can lead to imbalance or even negative impacts. These factors may be prioritization and operationalization of values such as performance, generalization, efficiency, and novelty, according to researchers at Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Washington, and University College Dublin & Lero.
Roadmap or one-way street to democratizing AI
Going back to China’s route to the top, in 2019, China graduated as many as 3 times the number of computer scientists as the US. The country’s AI Innovation Action Plan for Colleges and Universities called for 50 new AI institutions in 2020. Following this timeline, China continues to invest heavily in the hardware needed to train AI models, particularly supercomputers, and now has over 200 of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Chinese scientists say they now (2021) have the world’s most powerful quantum computer.
Even though the US wants to show an excellent example by developing a roadmap to democratize access to AI research tools, it doesn’t stop China from promoting the type of AI applications — from social credit scoring to all-seeing surveillance — that the US and its allies seem keen to avoid. However, there’s clearly much to be done to promote the development of AI in the US, which the government seems — possibly — poised to do.
Quantum leaps and technology waves
Promoting innovation and development is like lifelong learning – it never stops. The same goes with services; they emerge over time. You’ve probably heard so far about four broad categories of cloud computing services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), serverless, and software as a service (SaaS). Following this typology, there is now an emerging service, coming from the sixth technology wave, quantum-as-a-service. In due course, Quantum Computing as a Service will be using real quantum computers performing fundamental quantum computing functions that will be available to rent in just the same way that cloud services are today.
What’s more, it’s not just another fancy term, rather an accomplishment from Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC). Having built and launched the UK’s first superconducting quantum computer in 2018, they’re now launching the UK’s first Quantum Computing-as-a-Service (QCaaS) platform. As stated by Dr. Ilana Wisby, the CEO of OQC, the launch of our QCaaS platform is not only a remarkable achievement in the history of Oxford Quantum Circuits. Still, it is a significant milestone in unlocking the potential of quantum computing both in the UK and globally.
Upcoming event: MKAI AI Inclusive Forum: Adaptable Intelligence
Meanwhile, in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, unique and diverse, the MKAI community brings AI back to humans. Integrating sustainable human values is MKAI’s mission. Therefore we are actively shaping the future of artificial intelligence. One of the channels to communicate our thoughts, mission, and vision are forums. In the upcoming AI Inclusive Forum titled Adaptable Intelligence, panelists and speakers will discuss if Artificial Intelligence could be different from other technology waves.
There are reasons to think that AI could be different to other technology waves as the research and development occur in an open-source computer science field where early publications are the norm, and investments by large corporations frequently benefit the entire industry. The types of rules that govern this field have remained minimal, and new ideas generated by the concept of an alternative intelligence have kept the buzz about this field at an all-time high. More on this at our Forum.
This technology’s future indications and impacts are critical for every leader, including whether AI is a unique phenomenon or its creation gave rise to an opportunity that would otherwise not have existed. If these topics resonate with you, don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to gain knowledge and raise awareness about how your and everyone’s future is being shaped at the moment.
See you next week,
Alex
