What’s the state of artificial intelligence?

In recognition of the profound impact that artificial intelligence is having on virtually every aspect of our lives, Stanford has conducted an in-depth review of the current state of play. Their report provides a comprehensive snapshot of the ways in which AI is shaping our world, and offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Key high-level takeaways:

• AI development has flipped over the last decade from academia-led to industry-led, by a large margin, and this shows no sign of changing.
• It’s becoming difficult to test models on traditional benchmarks and a new paradigm may be needed here.
• The energy footprint of AI training and use is becoming considerable, but we have yet to see how it may add efficiencies elsewhere.
• The number of “AI incidents and controversies” has increased by a factor of 26 since 2012, which actually seems a bit low.
• AI-related skills and job postings are increasing, but not as fast as you’d think.
• Policymakers, however, are falling over themselves trying to write a definitive AI bill, a fool’s errand if there ever was one.
• Investment has temporarily stalled, but that’s after an astronomic increase over the last decade.
• More than 70% of Chinese, Saudi, and Indian respondents felt AI had more benefits than drawbacks. Americans? 35%.