How Asean can unlock promise of artificial intelligence

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is still in its early stages in South-east Asia: the use of one common type of AI - machine learning, where machines are fed data to learn from - is just beginning to have an impact on the region.

While all member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) engage in some level of AI research and adoption, Singapore is the region's clear leader. Its AI work across multiple industries led Startup Genome's 2017 Global Startup Ecosystem Report to rank Singapore ahead of tech hot spots like Austin, Texas, and Stockholm. However, there is a wide range of digital maturity within Asean.

If AI development were left purely to market forces, early adopters in financial services and in high tech and telecom would be likely to extend their use of the technology. But greater value in other sectors, such as retail and healthcare, would remain largely untapped. We already see AI radically altering the way online retailers fulfill orders, how manufacturers make parts and assemble them, and the way doctors decide how to battle some diseases. And change will only accelerate as the drivers of AI…