Sharing insights on the latest AI industry developments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to be the most disruptive class of technology over the next decade, set to help businesses survive and thrive in the digital economy.
Global business value derived from AI is projected to reach a total of US$1.2 trillion in 2018, an increase of 70% from last year, according to Gartner, which also forecasts that AI-derived business value will reach US$3.9 trillion in 2022.
In Gartner’s trend report “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018,” the first three trends elaborate how AI and machine learning will permeate every aspect of human life due to advances in computational power as well as the volume, velocity and variety of data and advances in deep neural networks.
“One of the biggest aggregate sources for AI-enhanced products and services acquired by enterprises between 2017 and 2022 will be niche solutions that address one need very well,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. He said business executives will drive investment in these products, sourced from thousands of narrowly focused specialist suppliers with specific AI-enhanced applications.
AI-driven applications and services on smart devices are set to include AI autonomous vehicles, electronic healthcare services and robotics with the aid of the Internet of Things (IoT). In smart homes, AI features will play a crucial role for brands to differentiate their products in the future, allowing smart devices to learn, plan and solve daily problems.
“[The] computer is going to learn by itself, and software is going
to write software,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of US-based graphics processing giant NVIDIA.
He noted that Taiwan was at the center of the PC revolution. “Now it [Taiwan] is investing to play an important role in the next era of computing,” he said, adding “with the essential infrastructure and tools, the rich talent in Taiwan’s schools and industry will create world-changing breakthroughs in science and society.”
The security and surveillance industry is another field in which AI applications show great potential. Empowered by AI, traditional security services can now shift their focus to data analytics and applications. The Polish company Cryptomage, for example, utilizes AI computing and machine learning to detect client traffic and prevent viruses or hacking in real time. Thunder, the US-headquartered company, has launched a DNS product that harnesses the power of AI algorithms to identify and isolate unknown virus threats, thereby breaking through legacy limitations.
For the medical industry, AI applications will be used in a wide array of areas. For instance, new methods developed by the startup company Incubit, a new exhibitor at COMPUTEX this year, uses AI to structuralize data from electronic medical records to provide more precise diagnosis, enhancing the quality of healthcare services.
Fully aware of the importance of this trend, Taiwan’s government has set aside a large budget for helping and encouraging local companies to research and develop AI applications. On Monday, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced cooperation with NVIDIA to build up local deep learning and AI technologies in the next decade in an effort to advance Taiwan’s capabilities.
AsusTek Computer, Taiwan Mobile and Quanta Computer recently joined the government’s effort by announcing joint construction of a national AI host project in Taiwan to assist in the construction of a next-generation AI computing host. Under their plan, they will also establish an
AI cloud big-data computing platform, with both projects expected to be completed in
the fourth quarter of this year at a cost of nearly NT$1.1 billion. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the establishment of an NT$1 billion AI research and development hub in Taiwan, which the government predicts will help transform the local tech and industrial sectors.
At COMPUTEX 2018, leading solution providers EDIMAX, ECS and SYSCOM, to name just a few, are all demonstrating the latest IoT applications. Local and international exhibitors specializing in areas including AI, big data, security and surveillance, smart healthcare and smart technology are also showcasing their pioneering solutions, demonstrating the diversity and growing momentum of AI, and the abundance of yet-to-be-tapped opportunities.
On the eve of COMPUTEX on Monday, NVIDIA also unveiled two new products: NVIDIA Isaac and the Jetson Xavier, a new developer platform and AI computer built to power autonomous robots, respectively.
This year, COMPUTEX has invited 15 top tech leaders to talk about the industry’s latest developments in a two-day “Ubiquitous Intelligence” forum held at the Taipei International Convention Center.