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Sovereign AI – The World and Us

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Sovereign AI – The World and Us

Over the past few decades, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved significantly from just human-like text generations to intelligent solutions for sophisticated task automation. AI is currently becoming essential in almost every area, playing a significant role in our society in general fields such as marketing, economics, finance, banking, cybersecurity, and the arts, as well as in specific fields like playing chess and writing poetry. One of the most recent significant advancements in AI is the concept of Sovereign AI.

What is Sovereign AI?

Sovereign AI refers to autonomous systems capable of self-governance and decision-making by leveraging a nation’s five strategic pillars to build its own AI capabilities: digital infrastructure (advanced data centers and high-performance computing clusters, with locally generated and stored data), a skilled workforce, RDI (research, development, and innovation facilitated by governmental and non-governmental agencies), ethical and regulatory compliance (ensuring transparency, privacy, and cybersecurity), and business networks (fostering collaboration both domestically and internationally for sustainable growth).

Under predefined ethical and legal frameworks that ensure alignment with societal norms and regulations, the concept of Sovereign AI involves granting AI a level of control and authority over various aspects of governance, the economy, and other social functions without human intervention, in order to maintain digital security and, most importantly, cultural identity and nation’s sovereignty.

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, spoke at the World Government Summit (WGS) 2024, noting that while the first wave of AI primarily involved the private sector, the second wave would mainly focus on specific identity, culture, and language. This emphasises the need for every nation to develop its own capability and infrastructure in order to produce and control its own intelligence.

Core Principles of Sovereign AI

Sovereign AI is founded on several key principles that set it apart from other AI systems:

  • Autonomy: Sovereign AI systems are designed with self-governing capabilities, enabling decision-making and action without human oversight. This level of autonomy is achieved through sophisticated algorithms and machine learning, allowing the system to dynamically learn from and adapt to its experiences – scalable and adaptable effectively and relevantly as data volumes increase over time
  • Ethics and Compliance: A crucial component of Sovereign AI is ensuring ethical behaviour. These systems are programmed to transparently follow ethical guidelines and regulatory standards, reducing the likelihood of biased or harmful outcomes
  • Security and Privacy: Protecting data and ensuring user confidentiality are critical for Sovereign AI. Advanced security measures and encryption methods are utilised to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access and cyber threats

The World is Heading to Sovereign AI, Where is Thailand Now?

Recently, nations worldwide have made significant investments in sovereign AI. For instance, Scaleway, a French cloud computing company, is underway to develop Europe’s most powerful cloud-based AI supercomputer, the “NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD” (read more in The Iliad Group – 2023 CSR Report and The Iliad Group is Making Strategic Investments in Artificial Intelligence). With cooperation between public and private sectors, Japan is developing the Sovereign AI for key aspects such as linguistic (Japanese language model) and environmental aspects (natural disaster precautions and climate forecast). In Southeast Asia, Singapore has made a strategic plan to develop national LLM capabilities to support of its own languages and local cultures, claiming to be the first in the region (read more in National AI Strategy and SG Develops Southeast Asia’s First LLM Ecosystem).

Looking back to our homeland, the question arises – what about us? Where does Thailand stand in this AI-driven landscape? Kasima Tharnpipitchai, Head of AI Strategy at SCB 10X, emphasised the importance of owning native AI models during the session “Sovereign AI – Why’ It’s Imperative to Have Our Own Thai AI Models” at the Techsauce Global Summit 2024. SCB 10X’s open-source AI, “Typhoon”, is developed and optimised specifically for the large Thai language model, with the core concepts of conserving our own national identity (referred to as “Thainess” by Nattapon Srimuang in the Marketing Oops’ Blog), both culturally and linguistically. Given that Thai is considered a low-resource language (with usage rates as low as 1 per 100 compared to English), developing our own AI model could provide Thailand with vast opportunities to potentially step onto the global stage.

Challenges of Sovereign AI

Achieving success in Sovereign AI is not an easy task. It requires significant investment in various areas such as education, research and development (R&D), and infrastructure. It consequently demands cooperative efforts between the public and private sectors, as well as supportive government policies to ensure these initiatives are effectively implemented. From “The Rise of Sovereign AI: A Technological Race with National Stakes” by Prof. Ahmed Banafa and “Sovereign AI” by Macquarie Data Centres, here is a summary of the key challenges that need careful consideration prior to the use of Sovereign AI:

  • Technology and Innovation Silos: Due to sovereignty concerns, many countries may be restrained or even isolated from global innovation. This could potentially reduce the inclination to collaborate on a global scale, thereby slowing advancements in AI and other key technologies
  • Ethical Dilemmas: The nationwide application of AI raises ethical concerns, particularly regarding data collection methods and potential biases in the solutions, especially if used by totalitarian regimes
  • Workforce Limitations: Smaller countries may lack sufficient domestic talent to support sovereign AI projects at a national scale. Acquiring international talent could be another viable solution
  • Financial Burden: The high cost of Sovereign AI development is another critical issue. Building the necessary infrastructure, gathering data, and maintaining a skilled workforce are expensive endeavours. Smaller, developing nations may find themselves at a disadvantage – unaffordable

Final Thought

Sovereign AI should enhance security, foster innovation, promote economic growth, and strengthen national “democracy” without heightening security risks by empowering authoritarian regimes. Ultimately, it should prioritise the well-being of people nationwide, rather than pursuing sovereignty solely to serve the interests of government and authority – potentially enabling corruption. Achieving these goals will empower us to shape our technological future and establish a strong presence on the global stage.

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References

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