Asia (ex China) Is Asleep At The AI Wheel

Since the launch of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT last November, America has been consumed by the hype, hoopla, and indeed the hysteria surrounding the promise and perils of artificial intelligence. This has had ripple effects all over the world, with investors swooning over the earnings prospects of AI-related stocks like Nvidia, which saw its market value triple in less than eight months, and briefly rose above the $1 trillion mark last week.

But policymakers have also begun to fret over the darker side of unleashing AI—destroying jobs in entire industries—and AI champions are even warning that the new technology, if unchecked, could pose an existential threat to humanity. Which is why it is hugely important that Asia, which accounts for close to 60% of the world’s population and 45 % of global GDP, should be in the driver’s seat in managing the risks and rewards of AI rather than being asleep at the wheel.