AI will be put on download

Russia, not being a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, continues to depend on foreign developments, so under the conditions of sanctions, the issue of import substitution in this area is very acute, experts from the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) and the NTI Competence Center for Storage and Analysis Technologies note big data MSU. Meanwhile, AI is one of the key technologies that the White House is now betting on the introduction of when deploying the digital transformation of the public administration system.

Most AI products and technologies are created in the West, experts from the Center for Strategic Research and the NTI Competence Center of Moscow State University recall in their study. In such categories as non-relational database management systems, application packages for mathematical calculations, frameworks for storing and processing big data, there are simply no domestic developments. “Even in the optimistic scenario, the assessment of the sanctions impact is close to high-risk boundaries,” said Vladimir Tyutrin, deputy head of the Digital Development direction of the Center for Strategic Development.

As a solution to the problem, experts talk about the need to create a Russian platform for Open Source products (a repository in Runet), as well as a public registry of AI development technologies.

It is proposed to fill the domestic “repository” with products and software from public foreign repositories, primarily located in jurisdictions that have announced Russian sanctions – Azure DevOps Services, Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, SourceForge. Such a transfer will require the development of a mechanism for validating (testing) Open Source products for the presence of malicious code in them due to the emergence of so-called protest software, experts point out.

According to experts, a public register of technologies will be able to solve the problems of “patchwork” coverage of the information field and the difficulty of finding information in disparate sources. Now technology companies in the Russian Federation are working in isolation to create analogues of solutions in the field of AI and in related areas. At the same time, the solutions found often remain niche or completely unnoticed, the study notes.

It should be noted that according to the plans of the authorities, the appearance of the national repository is scheduled for December 2022, but so far the draft of the relevant government decree has not been adopted.

Now the Ministry of Digital Transformation and ANO “Open Source” are forming the requirements for such a repository (more see “Kommersant” dated August 6). In addition, in October 2021, the government approved what should be done in the next ten years for the digital transformation of public administration, and AI was named one of the key technologies. It was reported that as early as this year, federal departments are expected to be ranked by the degree to which they implement AI in their activities.

Alexander Malakhov, head of the Digital Development direction of the Center for Strategic Development, notes that the conditions for the implementation of solutions using AI are a large amount of accumulated data suitable for machine processing; algorithms that implement artificial neural networks; software solutions; libraries that allow implementing these algorithms, as well as computing power for processing an array of data. In addition, personnel, legal and ethical issues need to be addressed, but they are less associated with sanctions risks. As for computing power, the expert sees no prerequisites for their significant import substitution in the foreseeable future. This problem will be a deterrent in the digitalization of industries where its level is currently low (for example, agriculture). At the same time, in his opinion, in terms of the transformation of public administration, the problem will not become critical.

Venera Petrova