Introduction

The Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2021 have been published by Stanford University’s Human-Centered AI (HAI) which was founded to guide and build the future of AI. This is the fourth edition of the AI Index Report and efforts have been put to track, collate, distill and visualize data related to AI. The report aims to be the world’s most credible source for data and insights about AI. The report also factored in the effects of Covid-19 on AI development. There is in-depth discussion on how AI start-ups can use machine-learning based techniques to accelerate Covid-related drug discovery amidst the pandemic.

The report has been divided into seven chapters, each dealing with topics such as research & development, technical performance, the economy, AI education, ethical challenges of AI applications, diversity in AI and AI policy and national strategies. Each chapter has been discussed in detail. However, for the ease of the readers, the key points have been highlighted below.

Research & Development

Increase in AI journal publications by 35% from 2019 to 2020.

The highest proportion of peer-reviewed AI papers comes from academic institutions.

Due to the pandemic, most of the AI conferences took place virtually thereby registering a significant increase in attendance.

Technical Performance

AI systems is capable of composing text, audio and images that are of supremely high standard so much so that it is hard to differentiate between synthetic and non-synthetic.

The progress in NLP has resulted in AI systems with enhanced AI capabilities that has a meaningful economic impact on the world.

With the increased use of machine learning, the landscape of healthcare industry has changed considerably.

 The economy

Massive amount of private investments poured in for using AI in drug, cancer, molecular and drug discovery.

Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw a 9.3% increase in the amount of private AI investment from 2019.

The highest growth in AI hiring is observed in developing countries such as Brazil, India, South Africa and developed countries such as Singapore and Canada.

For the first time in six years, there has been a decrease in AI job postings in the US.

 AI Education

The world’s top universities have increased their investment in AI education over the past four years.

Increase in willingness of AI PhD students to work in the industry.

In the European Union, the vast majority of specialized AI academic offerings are taught at the master’s level; robotics and automation are by far the most frequently taught course in the specialized bachelor’s and master’s programs.

Ethical Challenges of AI Applications

The topics on ethical use of AI that garnered maximum attention in 2020 were the release of the European Commission’s white paper on AI, Google’s dismissal of ethics researcher Timnit Gebru, the AI ethics committee formed by the United Nations, the Vatican’s AI ethics plan, and IBM’s exiting the facial-recognition businesses.

Substantial increase in submission of papers with ethics-related keywords since 2015.

 Diversity in AI

Share of female AI PhDs and tenure-track computer science (CS) faculty have remained low for more than a decade.

The participation in Black in AI workshops has shown an uptick in the recent years.

A membership survey revealed lack of inclusiveness in the field of AI is an obstacle they have faced in becoming a practitioner in the AI/ML domain.

 AI Policy and National Strategies

A large number of countries are following the footsteps of Canada by publishing its national AI strategy.

The US first-ever recorded the most AI-focused congressional session in history where the number of mentions of AI by the Congress was clearly visible.

Relevance of the Report

The Artificial Index Report 2021 is the starting point for informed conversations on AI as it takes a cross-country approach to analyze the pattern of AI’s impact on economies, job growth, diversity and research. The researchers have immaculately measured the rapid rate of AI advancement, based on which policy and decision-makers can take actions to advance AI in an ethical and responsible manner. The index also highlights facts that researchers are not aware of in terms of AI development and deployment.

 Key Takeaways

AI investment in drug design and discovery increased significantly with more than USD 13.8 billion private investment reported in 2020. The focus area of investment has been Drugs, Cancer, Molecular and Drug Discovery followed by Autonomous Vehicle, Fleet and Autonomous Driving.

AI systems can now compose text, audio and images almost similar to human such that it is difficult to distinguish between synthetic and non-synthetic.

• China has overtaken the US in AI journal citations.
• A big role played by the industry in AI development as 65% of graduating North American PhDs went in AI.
• AI ethics lacks benchmarks and consensus with researchers viewing ethics as more important than industry organizations.
• Significant progress observed in large-scale surveillance technologies such as face recognition and voice identification.
• The progress in AI has managed to attract the attention of the US Congress with frequent mention of AI in the 116th Congress.