The administration of President William Lai (賴清德) has hit the ground running in several areas, but few more so than artificial intelligence (AI). Lai seems determined to make it a hallmark of his presidency alongside healthcare improvements, positioning Taiwan as a hub for the emergent technology in Asia and the world. It was even featured in his inaugural speech on May 20, tagged with the slogan “AI island.”
Saying that Taiwan must adapt to the pace of AI innovation, Lai called on the nation to “use AI’s computational power to make our nation, our military, our workforce and our economy stronger.”
The administration’s plan to accomplish this vague call to action is taking shape. According to Lai’s comments at Computex Taipei less than a month after his inauguration, the “AI island” goal would be achieved by building supercomputers and other high-tech infrastructure, cultivating talent and ensuring a stable power supply.
So how is it going so far?
The National Science and Technology Council last month announced a five-year, NT$36 billion (US$1.12 billion) fund to support the semiconductor industry and build advanced computer centers across southern Taiwan. A council official said that the project, paired with a separate chip innovation program, aims to increase the government’s computational power from 19 petaflops to 480 petaflops by 2028.
Enterprises are collaborating on the AI Computing Center, which is to be the 15th-most powerful supercomputer in the world, while the Forerunner 1 supercomputer built by the National Center for High-Performance Computing came online in July. To ensure AI developers could access these resources, the Ministry of Digital Affairs promised NT$65 million to build shared computing resources.
Talent cultivation has also been a focus, with several programs promising to incorporate AI into all levels of education. The Taiwan Artificial Intelligence College Alliance, which was unveiled last week, is to offer an AI certificate that students can present to employers as proof of AI competency after undergoing a program set by the Ministry of Education and top universities.
The energy component would be the hardest to crack. Industry leaders all repeat the same refrain, requesting stable, high-quality and cheap power as a prerequisite to developing the industry.
On a collision course with the government’s climate goals and commitment to eliminating nuclear power, there does not appear to be a solution that would satisfy all parties. The government’s lack of policy proposals has reflected this. The appointment of nuclear-friendly members to Lai’s National Climate Change Strategy Committee seems to suggest he might be willing to press pause on the “nuclear-free homeland” policy in favor of other goals.
However, an appointment or two does not equate to a policy shift. Until there are significant and novel investments in this area, the calls for a more robust power plan are warranted.
The “AI island” efforts reflect a genuine and considered determination to cultivate the industry, but planning and budgets mean little unless they can be implemented on a micro level. AI especially poses an existential risk that threatens harming a litany of other societal touchstones if approached recklessly. The technology is so new that societies worldwide are still struggling to imagine its potential consequences, much less mitigate them, even as governments and industry are racing to get ahead of the pack.
To avoid pitfalls, public servants, students, teachers, employees and others tasked with carrying out the groundwork must all keep the greater picture in mind during the rush to create an “AI island.”
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