The government has set a goal of cultivating 500,000 artificial intelligence (AI) professionals by 2040 and plans to inject NT$100 billion (US$3.17 billion) into a venture capital fund to achieve it, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday at an AI talent forum in Taipei.
“AI changing the world is no longer a future prospect — it is happening right now,” so cultivating AI talent is extremely important, Lai said.
While many people still have doubts about AI, it has already quietly transformed production methods and lifestyles, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
AI is bringing an industrial revolution, meaning a complete overhaul of talent development and ways of living, he said.
“Taiwan is indeed fortunate. Through the efforts of several generations, the technology industry has established a solid foundation and plays a key role in the global high-tech sector,” he said. “Looking back, Taiwan has progressed from mechanization and automation to digitalization. Now it is time to fully promote intelligence.”
“In the past, Taiwan’s hardware manufacturing laid a strong foundation and now the focus is on AI applications to ensure Taiwan maintains a competitive edge in the next generation,” Lai said.
The government’s promotion of AI does not mean it favors specific industries, nor does it mean everyone must learn to code, he said, adding that the goal is to cultivate a population capable of effectively utilizing AI.
The government unveiled its new 10-year AI development initiatives last year, Lai said.
The initiatives include the establishment of a national computing center and the development of critical technologies, such as silicon photonics, quantum computing and robotics, he said.
Its objective is to build an AI innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, help small and medium-sized enterprises upgrade and transform, and create intelligent living circles that integrate AI across all aspects of life — food, clothing, housing, transportation, education and entertainment, he added.
National competitiveness would increasingly depend not only on advanced chipmaking capabilities, but also on the ability of Taiwanese to use AI effectively, Lai said.
To this end, the government is rolling out AI training courses for the public sector, and encouraging civil servants and students to acquire AI skills, he added.
Through cooperation between government, industry and academia, Taiwan could use AI to achieve economic transformation, Lai said.
With a larger AI talent pool, the government aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises accelerate digital upgrades and boost their competitiveness, he added.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS