2023-10-10 00:25:31
The great revolution of industry 4.0 is simmering, but unstoppable. According to the most recent data from the National Observatory of Technology and Society (dependent on the Ministry of Economy), 11.8% of national companies used artificial intelligence (AI) in their businesses in 2022, about four points higher of the results recorded the previous year. And everything indicates that adoption has increased in 2023; at least, considering the great explosion of popularity of ChatGPT and the good handful of actions aimed at technology governance that are being developed in Spain.
As is the case in the rest of the countries around us, there is a big difference in the uses of technology depending on the type of business. The lead, by far, is for information and telecommunications companies, with more than 40% adoption of these new developments. «They have been the great enablers of technology and, in the end, they are data companies. When you have large amounts of information, you have many possibilities of taking advantage of artificial intelligence,” explains Nuria Oliver, Telecommunications engineer and AI expert who, throughout her career, has worked for companies such as Telefónica or Microsoft.
For his part, Sergio Álvarez, executive director of SciTheWorld, a center of excellence in the deployment of AI that has worked for Banco Santander, BBVA and JP Morgan, highlights the use of technology in the financial field: «The large Spanish banks They use it for everything. It can be used in the ‘back office’ (to speed up the company’s work and decision making), risk management or the discovery of money laundering. “It is also used quite a bit for investment.”
Small and medium-sized companies, which are the majority in Spain, are still not fully on board. Only 4.6% of those with less than ten employees use technology in some way. However, the implementation percentage, as is the case with large companies, continues to grow. «Although AI is not especially widespread in them, they are leading in the use of tools for natural language processing; for example, by using applications that transform audio into text,” says Nuria Oliver. Obviously, not all regions use the same. In the lead are companies from Madrid, with 16.8% use of AI. Behind: the Valencian Community (14.1%), Aragon (12.7%) and Catalonia (12.3%).
Entrepreneurs move
In recent years, the number of startups using artificial intelligence has been increasing. “The AI revolution is being felt intensely in the entrepreneurial sector, where projects are emerging that seek to take advantage of the potential and capacity of this technology,” says Paloma Castellano, director of Wayra Madrid, Telefónica’s main open innovation initiative. . Firms such as Idoven stand out, which has created the world’s first cardiology-as-a-service platform based on AI to identify and classify patients on a large scale. Also Voicemod, which leads the market in vocal modulation for entertainment, or Indya, a firm that uses algorithms to personalize the nutrition of athletes.
Furthermore, as José del Barrio, director of the Samaipata investment fund, points out, there were already good initiatives in the country before the arrival of ChatGPT. The future is promising: “We are convinced of the opportunity to build great companies in the coming years.” However, the businessman is clear that projects that want to succeed “will face a great challenge of differentiation from which few will succeed.”
Getting started is never easy. And in Spain there is not the same aid as in other large economies. Neither private nor public. The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (ENIA), announced by the Government in 2020, guaranteed a budget of 600 million euros to be distributed until 2023 in order to support innovation and technology governance. This is approximately 0.05% of the national GDP. However, it is less than what is being invested in countries such as Italy (0.14%), Germany (0.14%) or France (0.06%), according to a BBVA study.
Despite the difference in resource allocation, the country has already achieved a few milestones that can mark, and for the better, the future of technology in our country. If nothing goes wrong, and the European Commission’s plans are fulfilled, the Artificial Intelligence Law will finally be approved before the end of the year. And it will do so under the Spanish presidency. The Government will also launch the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence, which will have its physical headquarters in La Coruña and will be operational within two months. Its mission will be to ensure the proper use of technology.
The challenge of training
Training a professional in artificial intelligence (AI) who has in-depth knowledge about the technology and who also has the ability to lead companies is another of the great challenges that the country must face. Although it is true that Spain is not in a bad position at an academic level.
«There are a lot of places that offer high quality training. The Polytechnic of Madrid, Barcelona and the University of Granada have had programs since 1989 or 1990. There are half a dozen master’s degrees in AI, two official,” explains Ulises Cortés, professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, to this newspaper. .
Despite this, Enrique Serrano, executive director of the company dedicated to digitalization Tinámica, highlights, among other things, the great lack of professionals specialized in AI that there is in the country compared to other states: «We currently have a gap of about 2,000 positions per day in various positions that are not filled. “That makes growth in the country much slower.”
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