THE Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) The latest technology monitoring report paints a bleak picture of Western countries’ advantages in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics compared to China.
Among the indicators published by the tool is a chart showing research papers published between 2019 and 2023, which it used to rank national research performance in advanced data analytics. When ASPI ranked countries by their share of highly cited publications, it reported that China led the way, with a share of 33.2%. According to ASPI’s research, China had more than twice as many “highly cited publications” as the United States (14.4%), which ranked second. The United Kingdom came in fourth, with just 4%, behind India, with 5.4%.
Between 2019 and 2023, China was the country that published the most research publications (8,672) on advanced analytics, while the number of articles for the United States was 3,454, according to ASPI research. The volume of research publications for the United Kingdom places it seventh, with 719 research articles, behind Italy, with 771.
According to ASPI’s highly cited publications assessment, the top ten academic institutes in advanced analytics are in China. The top three are: Chinese Academy of Sciences (first place), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (second place), and Xidian University (third place). Imperial College of the United Kingdom ranks 62nd.
When ASPI looked at the career trajectories of what it considered the “most talented cohort of researchers” who published advanced analysis papers, China leads the championship againWith 180 undergraduate researchers, the United States has 125. For postgraduate researchers, the United States leads with 226 postgraduate researchers, ahead of the European Union (145) in second place. ASPI reported that China comes in third with 88 postgraduate researchers.
The ASPI study classifies advanced analytics as a subset of AI.
ASPI figures for AI show that in 2009, the leading country in terms of AI algorithms and acceleration hardware, based on its research publications, was the United States, with 12.5% of research contributions. In 2009, the United Kingdom was second, with 2.1%. By 2023, China was the leading contributor (29%); the United States was second (12%); and the United Kingdom had fallen to fourth place, with 6%, behind India (9%).
In a tweet posted on XEntrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand, founder of HouseTrip (now owned by TripAdvisor), said: “We are clearly witnessing a huge seismic shift, at a pace that is beyond comprehension, given the overwhelming consensus in the West just 10 years ago that China ‘couldn’t innovate.’ And perhaps that is the key lesson: our prejudices and arrogance seem to have not only hampered our understanding of others, but also our own progress.”
Given the UK’s policy both attracting talent from abroad and its position on reduce net migrationAmong the most interesting data from ASPI is the influx of top researchers by location of study. The UK welcomed three of the top advanced analytics researchers from China, compared to 15 from the US and eight from the EU. Overall, the UK welcomed six advanced analytics researchers from the US, eight from the European Union and just one from india.
