The Head of the State took part in International Conference on artificial intelligence and data analysis the Artificial Intelligence Journey 2021.
Within the framework of the International Conference Artificial Intelligence Journey 2021 at the World Trade Center Moscow, an online conference on artificial intelligence for middle and high school students AI Journey Junior has been held. The AI Journey Junior conference program was specially adapted for the school audience and aimed to tell in a simple and accessible format what artificial intelligence was, what were the areas of its application and development prospects.
As part of the event, a discussion «Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Solving Social Problems» has been held. President of Russia Vladimir Putin took part in the discussion. CEO, Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Herman Gref acted as moderator.
In his welcome speech Herman Gref noted that the AI Journey 2021 conference, dedicated to the most popular, developing and most important technology in the world - artificial intelligence technology, gathered 52 thousand registered participants breaking all the attendance records.
He also noted that over the past two years, the number of universities that train specialists in the field of artificial intelligence has practically doubled. Also, there is now a huge interest in this topic among schoolchildren.
«At the same time, we see not only the quantitative growth of the participants, but also the qualitative. There is more and more penetration of world-class experts into panel discussions, into the discussion of the most vital and scientific topics in the field of the development of artificial intelligence, its philosophy, its ethics, and its regulation. This year, more than 800 people presented more than 2,300 solutions to various problems that were put on the agenda. Including this year, solutions were presented that can already be called approaches to solving the problem of what is called AGI, or artificial general intelligence»,- Herman Gref added.
In his welcoming speech to the conference participants, President of Russia, who was taking part in AI Journey for the third time, emphasized: «Artificial intelligence technologies have indeed become a part of our life. Today it is a point of attraction for talented, creative people who are ready to dream and achieve their goals, the cutting edge of scientific and engineering thought. And it is important that such breakthrough solutions, which open up truly endless opportunities, work not to harm, in any case, but for the benefit of man, help save our planet and ensure its sustainable development».
After the Q&A session, Herman Gref thanked Vladinr Putin for his time and noted: «Today, with the help of artificial intelligence technologies, it is really possible to put a person at the center of our activities and try to provide him with those services as quickly, conveniently and as cheaply as possible, he couldn't even dream yesterday. We are at this stage in the development of technologies and our economy, and with your support, and with the support and attention of the Government of the country, I see no obstacles so that we do not achieve our goal - to make Russia one of the leaders in the development of artificial intelligence technologies and in economic development in general».
In conclusion, Vladimir Putin wished success to the young talents and said: «It is a great privilege and pleasure for me to spend this hour with you. I am very pleased and interesting to listen to you, see your achievements, your progress, see how do you think, what do you think, what are you aimed at. This is really a great pleasure for me, and I am very grateful to you for this evening, because it gives the opportunity, I tell you quite frankly, without any pretense, even to somehow adjust the attitude to certain things in the development of education. I am very grateful to you for that».
Vladimir Putin also noted that the AI Journey international conference has already become one of the main global platforms for discussing the topic of artificial intelligence, including schoolchildren and students from Russia and other countries who are already creating a new technological world with their own hands, offering interesting solutions.
President of Russia also congratulated the entire staff Sberbank PJSC with the company’s anniversary: «For 180 years it has always remained and, I am sure, will continue to be a truly people's bank, a financial institution of systemic importance for the economy of our country. <...> Successfully fulfilling the key mission, you actively and, most importantly, sincerely, enthusiastically promote the ideas of technological progress, and yourself, using advanced solutions, look for customizing the entire Sber ecosystem around a person, demonstrate an example of the large-scale changes that are taking place all over the world».
According to Vladimir Putin, now the challenge for companies, enterprises, entire industries is not just to bring a new product to the market, to build effective production and business models: «The main thing is to focus all work on the interests and needs of a particular consumer. It is the person who becomes the center of all economic processes».
The key role in such a transformation, which affects not only the economy, but also the social sphere, the public administration system, of course, is played by big data and artificial intelligence.
«The who can use better the powerful technological potential in the interests of people and their well-being is the one who wins in the modern world, wins in global competition, and we must be among the leaders here - I mean our country, Russia», - Vladimir Putin added.
As Vladimir Putin noted, in Russia it is necessary to increase the process of digital transformation everywhere and move as soon as possible from experiments and initiatives «to launching end-to-end projects for the implementation of artificial intelligence, primarily in those areas that determine the quality of human life», so that future technologies become more accessible for people, helped in solving everyday problems, worked to achieve the national development goals of our country».
As for the business an important aspect, according to President of Russia, is the help to carry out technological upgrades and provide tax incentives to companies that purchase domestic software, computers and telecommunication devices: «It is necessary to remove as soon as possible all the barriers to the creation and implementation of advanced solutions, regarding the artificial intelligence as well, to form a regulatory and legal environment that meets the level of technological progress». Vladimir Putin also noted that it is important to regulate the legal aspects of the introduction of advanced technical solutions within the framework of experimental legal regimes, including ensuring the protection of intellectual property with regard to the results of the activity of artificial intelligence algorithms.
Vladimir Putin added that further development of digital technologies is impossible without data. In this regard, effective mechanisms of depersonalization and storage of data are needed, as well as «extremely clear, understandable rules for providing such anonymous information, unconditional protection of the rights and interests of citizens, including their private life». At the same time, a monopoly on data should not be allowed, so as not to restrict free competition and economic development: « I ask you to make legislative decisions as soon as possible, which will provide Russian developers of artificial intelligence, scientific organizations, and business with access to the mass of impersonal data of the state. <…> As a next step, I suggest that the Government and the Bank of Russia consider the possibility of providing similar access to anonymous data arrays of the largest domestic companies, while paying special attention to the security of personal data . <…> Of course, any action should be performed only with the consent of a person. <...> Extremely personal information should be stored in a unified state system of biometric identification, that is, the state should take responsibility for its storage and at the same time provide free access to it for banks and other organizations, but in a completely encrypted form, excluding any external interference, open access to personal data».
In conclusion Vladimir Putin added that «the creation and use of artificial intelligence technologies in the interests of society, humans, to save our planet, to study the oceans and deep space are truly civilizational tasks, absolutely ambitious. We can and must solve them only by combining our efforts».