The other governments investing in AI. Currently, many middle powers are leveraging their private sectors to advance AI capabilities. “AI,” in this context, means the use of computing power to conduct activities that previously required human intelligence. More specifically, most countries are focusing on narrow applications of AI, such as using algorithms to conduct discrete tasks, rather than pursuing artificial general intelligence. (Advances in artificial general intelligence will likely require computing power well beyond the capabilities of most companies and states.) Even though it would be difficult to match the degree of invention taking place in the United States and China, given the massive investment necessary to generate the computational power for the most complex algorithms, many countries believe that incremental advances in narrowly focused AI, based on publicly available information, could prove very useful.

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