The Ministry of Digital Affairs has secured a NT$10 billion (US$304.6 million) budget for artificial intelligence (AI), and would collaborate with Amazon Web Services (AWS), angel investors and venture capital firms, the ministry said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes less than two months after Nvidia Corp cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said that Nvidia would establish its first Asia-based AI research and development center in Taiwan.
The company would also “build a supercomputer, named ‘Taipei-1,’ and work with Taiwan’s industry and research institutions to develop AI technologies and products,” the Central News Agency said on June 4.
Taiwan was ranked ninth out of 64 nations in terms of digital competitiveness last year by Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development — a ranking that is likely to rise through cooperation with Nvidia, Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) said on Tuesday.
Taiwan is already a world leader in the design, packaging and manufacturing of semiconductors, and it is often said that international support for the defense of Taiwan is rooted in the importance of the nation’s semiconductors to the global economy. Innumerable products — from smartphones to motor vehicles — rely on chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, and the loss of those chips would be catastrophic to supply chains.
With AI growing in importance to various fields ranging from retail and manufacturing to medicine and national defense, prowess in the development of AI systems could further shore up Taiwan’s importance to the global economy. AI would be crucial in meeting Taiwan’s needs in these areas.
For example, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) during the Google Cloud Summit on June 13 said that chronic diseases are a growing burden for Taiwanese as the nation’s population ages.
In a news release following the summit, the National Health Insurance Administration said it “plans to leverage its expertise in health data management, collaborate with the National Health Research Institutes on research, and harness Google’s AI technology to develop an AI-driven risk assessment model for diabetes” and other chronic diseases.
Taiwan’s aging population and rapidly declining birthrate also mean that the number of people seeking medical attention is growing, while the number of new physicians being trained is shrinking.
A 2022 report by CommonWealth Magazine said that Taiwan would have 3,500 fewer doctors than it needs by 2030. Given that population woes cannot be solved in such a short time, Taiwan’s only recourse would be to address its physician shortage through immigration, technology such as AI or a combination of the two. AI can reduce the burden on existing medical staff by providing precise prediction and management of diseases.
The military is also feeling the impact of the country’s population problems, struggling to meet recruitment needs. AI could fill in where human numbers are insufficient here, too. The Ministry of National Defense has already said that AI is being integrated into defense operations, as it last month reported that it plans to obtain about 1,000 drones equipped with AI and machine-learning abilities before the end of the year.
Drones with “one-click takeoff,” “autonomous return,” “path planning flight,” “dynamic target tracking,” “coordinate distance calculation” and other capabilities would be acquired to reduce operator load, it said.
In the face of population woes and growing threats from China, Taiwan must look to strengthen its position with AI. Given its prowess in semiconductors, growing capabilities in AI development, and partnerships with major industry players such as Microsoft and Nvidia, the nation is poised to become a key hub in the industry. The government must continue to invest heavily in AI, and support the industry and academia through subsidies and infrastructure.
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