AI is transforming industries in China just as we expect it to revolutionize our industries and organizations. As witnessed in many existing practical AI applications already available today, AI is not a futuristic concept anymore. The question today is, who will lead the next AI revolution? In many terms China can be the driving force of this development.
2. AUTHORS
Dr. Edward Tse
Founder and CEO
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20172
Mr. Bill Russo
Managing Director and Auto Practice Lead
Mr. Alan Chan
Senior Consultant
3. Artificial Intelligence
TOPICS
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20173
1. WHAT IS AI? WHY NOW?
2. CHINA’S AI STATUS AND INNOVATORS
3. FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEAM FINLAND
4. Artificial Intelligence
How to define “intelligence”?
Can machines be “intelligent”?
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20174
WHAT IS AI? (1/2)
Source: Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
Artificial General Intelligence (Strong AI)
Human-level intelligence across the board
A machines that can perform any
intellectual task that human can
Ability to reason, plan, solve problems,
think abstractly, comprehend complex
ideas, learn quickly, and learn from
experience
Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)
“An intellect that is much smarter than
the best human brains in practically every
field, including scientific creativity, general
wisdom and social skills.”
Independent world view and values
Artificial Narrow Intelligence (Weak AI)
Specializes in narrow applications only
First definition of AI
By John McCarthy, Professor, Dartmouth College,
1956
“Every aspect of learning or any other feature of
intelligence can in principle be so precisely described
that a machine can be made to simulate it”
Modern definition
The science and engineering of "intelligent agents“ -
any device that perceives its environment and takes
actions that maximize its chance of success at some
goal
Path to Artificial Super Intelligence
Defining AI
Singularity? What AI can/can’t do?
5. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20175
WHAT IS AI? (2/2)
Source: Waitbutwhy, Rapidminer, Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
Artificial Intelligence
Any technique which enables
computers to mimic human
behavior
Machine Learning
Subset of AI techniques which use
statistical methods to enable
machines to recognize patterns
and improve with experiences
Deep Learning
Subset of ML which uses
complex neural networks to
make the computation of multi-
layer neural networks feasible
Understanding the key terminologiesThree key layers of AI
Applications
Industrial robots, chat bots, fintech, smart
healthcare, autonomous driving, smart home
appliances, etc.
Core Technologies
Computer vision, speech recognition, natural
language processing, machine learning, deep
learning, etc.
Infrastructure
Data, sensors, biometrics, graphics processor
chips, cloud computing
What does it mean to your industry?
6. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20176
AI IS DISRUPTING INDUSTRY BY INDUSTRY
Source: Gao Feng analysis
Go game
Texas Hold’em Poker
Automotive
Healthcare FinTech
Many more…
“AI will transform industries just as electricity
transformed almost everything 100 years ago”
Andrew Ng,
Former chief
scientist at Baidu,
founder of Coursera
and Google Brain
AI is not a futuristic
concept and many
practical AI applications
are already available
today, such as Facebook
newsfeed, Google search
results, Amazon product
recommendations,
LinkedIn Ads, iPhone siri,
photo-editing/tagging…
etc.
7. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20177
AI HAS A LONG HISTORY OF BEING “THE NEXT BIG THING”…
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Literature review, Gao Feng analysis
1950 1956 1974 19931980 1987 Time
Birth
Inflated
Hype
AI winter I
New Hopes
AI winter II
Explosive
Growth
Popularity
Timeline of AI Development
1950s-1960s: First AI boom - the
age of reasoning, prototype AI
developed
1970s: AI winter I
1980s-1990s: Second AI boom: the
age of Knowledge representation
(appearance of expert systems
capable of reproducing human
decision-making)
1990s: AI winter II
1997: Deep Blue beats Gary
Kasparov
2006: University of Toronto
develops Deep Learning
2011: IBM’s Watson won Jeopardy
2016: Go software based on Deep
Learning beats world’s champions
8. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20178
... BUT THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Wired, Gao Feng analysis
1. Cost-effective High Performance Computing
Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) (and Tensor Processing
Units): Discovery of using GPUs (originally used for generating
computer graphics in video games) to build and run parallel
neural networks, the primary architecture of AI software
2. Better Algorithms
Breakthrough developments
in Artificial Neural Networks
(ANN) – to model the
network of nerve cells in a
human brain on a computer
3. Abundance of Data
Massive databases, self-
tracking, web cookies, online
footprints, terabytes of storage,
decades of search results,
Wikipedia, etc. as raw materials
to train learning machines
9. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 20179
YET, THERE ARE MIXED VIEWS TOWARDS THE FUTURE OF AI
Source: Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
"The development of full
artificial intelligence could
spell the end of the human
race."
-- Stephen Hawking
“I think we should be very
careful about AI. If I had to
guess at what our biggest
existential threat is, it’s
probably that.”
-- Elon Musk
“There could be a race of killer
robots in the far future, but I
don’t work on not turning AI
evil today for the same reason
I don't worry about the
problem of overpopulation on
the planet Mars”
-- Andrew Ng
“All new technologies present
the possibility for misuse. AI is
no different. And even
technologies that are a clear net
positive for humanity have
negative side effects that should
be understood and dealt with
thoughtfully.”
-- Astro Teller
“It seems probable that once the
machine thinking method had
started, it would not take long
to outstrip our feeble powers…
They would be able to converse
with each other to sharpen their
wits. At some stage therefore,
we should have to expect the
machines to take control.”
-- Alan Turing
Neither hyped nor alarmed, we should carefully examine the new economic opportunities and the threats brought
by AI; the development of AI must address the risk of potential misuse and widening inequalities
10. Artificial Intelligence
TOPICS
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201710
1. WHAT IS AI? WHY NOW?
2. CHINA’S AI STATUS AND INNOVATORS
3. FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEAM FINLAND
11. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201711
CHINA WILL BECOME A MAJOR DRIVING FORCE OF THE NEXT AI
REVOLUTION
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: 36Kr, iiMedia, Gao Feng analysis
10.2
6.3
3.7
2.1
1.1
63%
69%
94%
108%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
110%
202220212018 2019
77%
2020
YoY Growth Rate Market Size
China AI Market Size
2018E-2022E, USD BnUSD Bn %
83
132
136
160
173
228
233
366
709
2,905
Switzerland
Spain
France
UK
China
US
Germany
Israel
Canada
India
Total Number of AI companies
Unit: Thousands, 2016
12. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201712
CHINA HAS THREE UNIQUE ADVANTAGES TO BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER
IN AI
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
AI-related policies: 13th Five-year
Plan (March 2015), Internet Plus,
Made in China 2025 (May 2016),
Robotics industry Development
Plan (April 2016), Three-year
Guidance for Internet Plus AI Plan
(May 2016)
March 2017 – China’s highest
national meeting included AI in the
Government Work Report for the
first time
Vast data gold mine from over
730M of online population
Tencent’s WeChat has almost
940 million users worldwide
and Alibaba Group has more
than 420 million active buyers
on Taobao
Chinese patent applications in
the AI segment grew to 8,410
between 2010 and 2014, a
186% increase from the
previous 5-year period between
2005 and 2009
China has a large pool of young
mathematics, science and
engineering graduates
Abundance of funding
Big data Innovation Ecosystem Government Push
13. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201713
CHINA HAS LEAPFROGGING DEVELOPMENT IN TERMS OF AI RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
Source: 36Kr, SCImago Journal Rank 2015, Vertex, Washington Post, Wuzhen Institute, Gao Feng analysis
Global AI citation ranking
By number of AI publications cited
2015
637 692
388
424
444 200
237
267199
1,487
504
UKChina
2,124
Spain
588
India
643
US
1,116
Self-citations
Other citations
Journal articles cited at least once, mentioning
“deep learning” or deep neural network”
2015
The no. of academic research papers published in
China in the field of deep learning exceeded the US
China is ranked first for absolute AI citations and
third based on publication influence
14. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201714
AI DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA IS CURRENTLY FOCUSING ON A FEW MAJOR
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: 36Kr, Gao Feng analysis
Others
6%
Data services
3%
Vertical applications
3%E-commerce
3%Fintech
4%
Smart Education 4%
Personal Assistant 4%
Smart Home 5%
Machine Learning
6%
Smart Driving
6%
Smart Health
7%
Natural Language Processing
11%
Service Robotics
20%
Computer Vision
21%
Distribution of China AI Start-ups, 2017 Investment received in China by segment
Accumulated sum, 2017 Jan, RMB Bn
0.6
0.7
0.8
1.6
2.0
2.8
Smart
Driving
Smart
Security
Smart
Home
Computer
Vision
RoboticsNatural
Language
Processing
China’s AI start-ups are focusing
on a few key applications
China’s AI–related investments are also very focused
on a few areas of specialization
15. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201715
AS A DIGITAL-SAVVY SOCIETY, THERE IS A RELATIVE HIGH CONSUMER
AWARENESS OF AI IN CHINA
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: iiMedia Consumer Survey, Gao Feng analysis
47% "So-so"
"Never heard of AI"
"Know little"
6%
20%
"Know AI well"
24%
"Know AI very well"
5%
“How well do you know AI?” “Where do you get to know AI?”
4%
7%
13%
29%
41%
75%Online media
Traditional media
Literatures
Cultural products
Others
Institutional reports
Majority of Chinese consumers are aware of AI
Chinese consumers learn about the concepts of AI
mostly from online sources
16. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201716
CHINESE CONSUMERS ARE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF AI AND
ARE AWARE OF THE NEED TO NURTURE AND ATTRACT MORE AI TALENTS
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: iiMedia Consumer Survey, Gao Feng analysis
“Do you think AI has more advantages or
disadvantages?”
59% "More advantages"
"No advantages"
"Equal" 2%2%
"More disadvantages"
31%
"No disadvantages"
18%
Chinese consumers are in general very optimistic
about the future of AI
47% "Necessary"
"Not that necessary"
"No need" 2%2%
"Very necessary"
31%
"No clear view"
18%
“Is it necessary to provide more education on AI?”
Chinese consumers are aware of the AI talent gap
17. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201717
CHINA’S AI MARKET LANDSCAPE
Source: iiMedia Research, Gao Feng analysis
Sensors
Chips
Industry Data Data Services
Biometrics Cloud Computing
Infrastructure
Layer
Core
Technology
Layer
Machine Learning Natural Language Processing Computer Vision
Application
layer
Industrial Robots Service Robots Smart Health Care Internet Finance
Personal Assistant Smart Security Smart Home Wearables
Precise Marketing Autonomous vehicle Logistics Vertical applications
NOT EXHAUSTIVE
18. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201718
THERE IS AN EXPANDING POOL OF AI TALENTS IN CHINA
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
Lu Qi
Group President and
COO, Baidu
Former Microsoft EVP
In general, Chinese AI scholars are more focused on the pragmatic applications and
use cases of AI while their counterparts in the US focus on fundamental research
Zhang Tong
Executive Director,
Tencent AI lab
Former head of Baidu
Big Data Lab
Wang Gang
Chief Scientist,
Alibaba AI Lab
Wang Jun
Founder, iCarbonX
Former CEO, Beijing
Genomics Institute
Li Hang
Huawei Noah Ark Lab
Zhao Feng
CTO and VP for
advanced R&D and
smart home
Haier
Sun Jian
Chief Scientist, Megvii
Former Partner Research
Manager, Microsoft
Yang Qiang
Chair Professor, Dept Head
of Computer Science &
Engineering, HKUST
Wang Haifeng
Head of AI
Group, Baidu
Zhou Jingren
Chief Scientist and
Vice President of
Alibaba Cloud
Ye Jieping
President, Didi
Research
Yu Kai
Founder & CEO,
Horizon Robotics
NOT EXHAUSTIVE
19. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201719
CHINESE TECH GIANTS ARE MAKING BIG BETS TO TAKE LEAD IN THE AI RACE
Source: Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
Baidu Brain, an AI
platform with over 60
different AI-enabled
services
DuerOS: natural
language-based,
conversational-based
human computing
platform, penetrating
over 100 home
appliance brands
Apollo: open platform
for self-driving car
solutions
Deep Interest Network:
Advanced personalized
recommendation engine
DT PAI (Platform of Artificial
Intelligence) launched in
August 2015
Ali Xiaomi: a virtual
personal secretary for
shopping and O2O services
Alibaba City Brain: leverage
Ali Cloud big data and deep-
learning technologies to
build 'city brains' in
cooperation with Hangzhou
and Macau governments
Tencent AI lab: 50 world-
class AI scientists,
researchers and experts
WeChat-HKUST Joint Lab
for pioneering research
based on WeChat data
‘Fine Art’ AI: developed
by 13 Tencent
engineers, defeated high-
ranking Japanese Go
player Ryo Ichiriki this
year
Launched DiDi Labs
primarily focusing on AI-
based security, advanced
service dispatch algorithm,
intelligent driving
technologies
Huawei Noah’s Ark
Laboratory and Berkeley
Artificial Intelligence
Research (BAIR) formed
partnership on
development of machine
learning, AI and data
mining
CASE EXAMPLES
20. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201720
MOBVOI IS A LEADING AI START-UP FOCUSING ON VOICE RECOGNITION
AND NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN CHINESE CONTEXT
Augmented Reality (AR)
CASE EXAMPLE
Company mission: To define the next generation of human-
machine interaction (HMI) through advanced AI technologies
Ticwatch
(Smart Watch)
Ticmirror
(In-vehicle
Robot)
Tichome
(AI Speaker)
Chinese language
recognition
Accurate
vertical search
engine
Real-time
proactive
search
Semantic
analysis
Text-to-speech
technology
Services
(Applications)
Software
(AI Technology)
Hardware
(Products)
…
POI
recommendation
Real-time
traffic alert
Movie ticket
booking
Restaurant
reservation
Food delivery
Health
monitor
Use cases Key enablers User experiences
Source: Mobvoi official website, Crunchbase, Gao Feng analysis
Business model
Company Facts
Founded in October 2012
Raised USD 252M from
ZhenFund, Sequoia Capital,
SIG China, Google, and
Volkswagen Group
Founded by Li Zhifei Li,
former research scientist at
Google and a world-class
natural language processing
expert
In Apr. 2017, Volkswagen
Group China and Mobvoi
announced a strategic
partnership and a 50:50 JV
to develop AI applications for
future connected cars
21. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201721
TOUTIAO IS A NEW UNICORN PROVIDING CURATED NEWS AND CONTENT
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Toutiao, Financial Times, Literature research, Gao Feng analysis
Competitive advantages in
content generation, distribution and monetization
Toutiao’s exponential growth
Basic facts:
By analyzing the features of content, users and users’
interaction with content, Toutiao’s AI-powered
algorithm models generate a tailored feed list of
content for each individual user
Now valued at USD 20Bn (from USD 500M in 2014)
Launched in August 2012 based in Beijing
Founder: Zhang Yiming
100M daily active users in 2017Q1
Average daily usage time: 76 mins
Hired Ma Wei-Ying, former assistant managing
director of Microsoft Research Asia, to lead its AI Lab
User-generated and professional-generated
content in various media forms: text, short
videos, Q&As
Provide incubator and media lab services for
curated content makers
AI-generated content live feed
Understand user’s emotions and behavioral
characteristics through machine learning,
analyze and predict user’s profile
Personalized news content – “Thousand
people, thousand interfaces”
Technology barrier: Leverage big data to
accumulate user understanding overtime
11
46
335
107
141
507
2016H22015H2
Total length of read (Billion mins)
Total no. of read (Billion)
No. of articles (Million)
Content
Generation
Content
Distribution
Content
Monetization
Business model: Personalized newsfeed ads,
re-direct traffic to E-commerce sites
Earned USD 869M in 2016 from in-app ads
with the goal to reach USD 10Bn by 2020
CASE EXAMPLE
22. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201722
MEGVII (FACE++) IS A FAST-GROWING COMPUTER VISION START-UP THAT
HAVE PENETRATED INTO A WIDE RANGE OF USE CASES
Source: Megvii official website, Gao Feng analysis
Company Background
Founded in 2011, Megvii is a computer vision firm that aims to power human with AI. It has developed leading technologies in
facial recognition, body recognition, and object recognition
Megvii raised USD 147M in 4 rounds from 6 investors, including Sinovation Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, and Foxteq Holdings
Megvii focuses on commercializing its facial recognition technology in Internet finance, banking, ride hailing sectors, and also its
body and object recognition technologies in intelligent real state and intelligent security areas
Ranked 11th in the “50 Smartest Companies of 2017” of MIT Technology Review
CASE EXAMPLE
Face Comparing
Face Attributes
Emotion recognition
Face Detection
Face Landmarks
Gaze estimation
Face Searching
Beauty score
Body Detection Gesture Recognition
Body Attributes
Body Outlining
Key technologies Key customers (examples)
User authentication
Smile to Pay
Driver verification for
ride hailing service
Photo beautification with automatic
makeup and beauty effect
User authentication for self
banking services
23. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201723
IFLYTEK IS A LONG-ESTABLISHED AI COMPANY SPECIALIZED IN SPEECH
AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES
Augmented Reality (AR)
*As of August 17 2017
Source: iFLYTEK official website, 36Kr, Gao Feng analysis
Company Background
Founded in 1999, iFLYTEK is the leader in intelligent speech and language processing technologies in China
Listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2008, and now with a market cap of ~USD 12B*
Achieved international advanced technologies in many areas including speech recognition, speech synthesis,
natural language processing, oral language evaluation, voiceprint recognition, and handwriting recognition
Ranked sixth in the “50 Smartest Companies of 2017” of MIT Technology Review and first among all Chinese
companies in the list including Alibaba and Baidu
easy trans
600
CASE EXAMPLE
Smart Education Smart Home Smart City
Smart Vehicle Smart Health
Care
Key application industriesKey products Key customers
Voice
Assistant
iFLYTEK
input
One-stop HMI
solution platform
Bilingual education
products
24. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201724
THERE IS A MYRIAD OF EMERGING CHINESE AI START-UPS FOCUSING ON
HEALTHCARE, ROBOTICS, AUTONOMOUS DRIVING AND OTHERS
Source: Company official websites, Crunchbase, Gao Feng analysis
Founded in 2015 and raised USD 200M in 2 rounds from
3 investors, including Tencent and China Bridge Capital
In Feb.2017, iCarbonX was selected by Fortune as one
of the “50 Companies Leading the AI Revolution”
Founded in 2014 and received USD 410M series B
funding in Aug. 2017 with a valuation of USD 1.1B
Computer vision and deep learning solution provider
Ranked fifth in China Money Network's China AI Top 10
Ranking in 2017
Founded in 2015, focusing on commercialized
autonomous truck technology solution
Facilities in both Beijing and San Diego
Received USD 20M investment from NVIDIA and Sina
Founded by Wu Gansha, former chief engineer at Intel
Labs China, in 2016
Building commercialized solutions for self-driving
technologies, products and services
Turing Robot is the most intelligent robot brain tailored
for the Chinese language context
Building the most leading AI robot operating system in
China and globally
Founded in 2007 and raised USD 45M in 3 rounds from
3 investors, including Legend Star and TusPark Ventures
AISpeech has 7 national qualifications, 25 patents, and
23 software copyrights
Digital health ecosystem Speech recognition and analysis
Deep learning AI robotics
Autonomous Driving Autonomous Driving
To compete with tech giants, AI start-ups must tailor their technologies and solutions to
focus on specific use cases and build big data capabilities as competitive advantages
CASE EXAMPLES
25. Artificial Intelligence
TOPICS
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201725
1. WHAT IS AI? WHY NOW?
2. CHINA’S AI STATUS AND INNOVATORS
3. FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEAM FINLAND
26. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201726
FINLAND HAS PUT AI AS ONE OF THE TOP NATIONAL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Gao Feng analysis
Prime Minister
Juha Sipilä
Making Finland the world
leader in artificial intelligence
Called for a common national
vision to make effective use of
AI in society
Using AI to boost wellbeing
will require not only new
competences but also novel
approaches, forward-thinking
decisions and frameworks,
and an adaptive labor market
Minister of Economic Affairs
Mika Lintilä
To make Finland the best in the
world in applying AI and
renewing ways of working
Established an AI-focused
steering group in May 2017,
program ready by September
“Finnish companies and Finnish
society have an excellent basis
to turn the challenges and
opportunities brought about
by AI into accelerators of
sustainable growth”
Director General National Agency
for Education
Olli-Pekka Heinonen
Important to take AI into
account in education
AI applications could for
example be used to create more
efficient ways to identify and
help students at risk of dropping
out
27. Artificial Intelligence
IBM opened The IBM Watson Health
Center in Helsinki, Finland
A hub for the collaborative future
development of data-driven cognitive
and artificial intelligence applications
and solutions for Finnish healthcare
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201727
THERE IS AN INCREASING AMOUNT OF AI START-UPS AND AI-ORIENTED
INITIATIVES IN FINLAND
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Literature research, Tekes, Gao Feng analysis
Claned
Leverage AI and education
psychology to enhance
personal learning
Personalizes learning to
each individual optimizing
study motivation and
improving learning results
Curious AI
Founded 2015 as a
spin-off from Aalto's
Deep Learning
Research Group
Specialized in the
fundamental research
on unsupervised AI
Zen Robotics
Specialized in AI-
controlled robotic
systems
Next Generation
Recycling – leader
in robotic waste
separation
IBM and Tekes
Blueprint Genetics
Addresses the main
bottleneck of genetic testing
through next-generation
sequencing (NGS) powered
by AI
Received EURO 14M in July
2017
"I am positive that Watson cognitive
capabilities will further boost innovation in
Finland and put us at the forefront of game-
changing health transformation, at the
European level and in the global
marketplace.“
- Pekka Soini, Director General of Tekes
CASE EXAMPLES
28. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201728
TO MAXIMIZIE ITS FULL POTENTIAL IN AI, FINLAND HAS EXISTING
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES TO LEVERAGE AS WELL AS GAPS TO CLOSE
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Gao Feng analysis
Competitive advantages of AI in Finland
High level of technology-related
education and skills
Strong collaboration between
companies and universities (VTT)
Innovation ecosystem that allows a
trial-and-error
Legacy in applied and fundamental AI
research – with legends such as Teuvo
Kohonen and Erkki Oja
Gaps to close
Talent gaps – technical and business
leaders who understand both sides
Getting ready for AI – businesses to
begin data acquisition and investigate
the future benefits of AI in driving
productivity and reducing costs
National strategy – to set national
priorities and leverage AI as a
economic multiplier to accelerate AI
transformation
29. Artificial Intelligence
Team Finland Future Watch Report, August 201729
FINLAND SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO CAPTURE THE
EXPOLSIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN AI
Augmented Reality (AR)
Source: Gao Feng analysis
Potential actions
Education
Offer AI-specific curriculum at the top local universities and STEM education in high schools
Hold public events for mass to understand and discuss the basic concepts, benefits and risks of AI
Openly engage with consumers and understand needs and pain points that can be potentially
addressed by AI technologies
R&D
Call for more novel applications and research on AI
Set up AI-specific funds and incubators to accelerate the development of Finnish AI ecosystem
Businesses
Leverage Finland’s traditional industries including the clean energy, forestry, industrial machinery
and processes, medical and ICT, and empower their AI transformation
Provide continuing education on AI-related courses for all kinds of workforces
To explore new applications of AI and identify potential use cases and profit potentials
Global ecosystem collaboration
Establish cross-border linkages to encourage global knowledge transfer and benchmark global best
practices; set up overseas AI labs to attract high-skilled talents
More detailed national strategy on AI and government funding for quality AI research and start-ups