Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2019; Malaysia Ranks 22 Out 194 Countries

Wire

Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2019; Malaysia Ranks 22 Out 194 Countries

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness Index released by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Oxford Insights launches has several Asian countries including Singapore, Japan and India among the first 20 in the world. The ranking examines 194 countries worldwide, assessing their governance, infrastructure and data, skills and education, and government and public services to measure how well these countries are prepared to manage the potentially transformative impacts of AI.

The ranking is dominated by countries with strong economies, robust data infrastructure and strong systems of governance.

“Given that we are on the cusp of seeing widespread AI implementation across a number of sectors, it is important that governments take notice of the findings to ensure that these inequalities do not become further entrenched as we enter the fourth industrial revolution”, says Richard Stirling, co-founder and CEO of Oxford Insights.

The differences in AI readiness between governments may increase the risk that certain countries could become testing grounds. Furthermore, AI could magnify existing inequality if the unique context of each region is not considered. To close the potential to widen global inequalities, there is a need for more equal implementation.

This Government AI Readiness Index covers 54 governments across the Asia-Pacific region. Two countries in the Asia-Pacific region are among the top ten globally for government AI readiness: Singapore (first globally) and Japan (second in Asia-Pacific and tenth globally). But the Asia-Pacific region also has two countries in the bottom ten globally: North Korea (last in Asia-Pacific and 193rd out of 194 globally), and the small Pacific island state of Micronesia (second last in Asia-Pacific and 186th out of 194 globally) which really isn’t a surprise.

But Malaysia ranking quite high up the list, 22 globally is commendable. Hopefully with this, AI integration comes faster than we thought. With the ramping up of 5G implementation as well, Malaysia may very well be on the way to be a tech hub in the Asian Pacific.

It is indicative of the uneven progress in government readiness and adoption of AI across the Asia-Pacific region. However, many governments in the region are working to develop national plans for accelerating AI adoption.