05:03
How will China's AI stack up against ChatGPT?
How will China's AI stack up against ChatGPT?
Over the past few decades, China has sought to close the technology gap by buying chips, acquiring core technologies, forming joint ventures, hiring experts from abroad and sending students to study abroad.
But now, U.S. sanctions and suspicions about Chinese companies operating in the West have forced Beijing into self-reliance mode.
To be fair, China has made great technological advances over the past decade and is a leading manufacturer of many high-tech products, including EVs.
In just 10 years, China's Global Innovation Index ranking among 132 countries rose from 35th in 2013 to 12th in 2023.
However, it still lags behind Singapore and South Korea among Asian economies.
It is also an open secret that China lags behind in basic science. Over the past 40 years, the focus has shifted from attempting to answer basic scientific questions to developing advanced technologies that can quickly yield economic benefits.
This explains why, while China can produce many advanced products and military equipment, it struggles to produce cutting-edge chips and engines for fighter jets.
25:55
Biden is freezing China's tech industry
Biden is freezing China's tech industry
As Marina Yue Zhang, a social scientist specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship research at Australia's Swinburne University of Technology, told Nature magazine in December 2022, the problem for China is that “ranking-driven The question is how do we move away from the catch-up model?'' It emphasizes “short-term incentives'' such as magazine publishing, and pursues “long-term accumulation of knowledge based on academic curiosity and freedom.''
It seems that this recognition is becoming more widespread.
“[We should] “We allow young people to make mistakes in their studies, we allow them to fail, we dare young people to do things that others don't do,” he said, adding that only by doing so can innovative and revolutionary He added that the results can be achieved.
However, in providing the right conditions to foster this kind of entrepreneurship, China must face a dilemma.
At the micro level, schools teach model answers to predictable questions and students are punished if they do not comply.
China's best scientific discoveries reveal research momentum and funding challenges
China's best scientific discoveries reveal research momentum and funding challenges
At the macro level, there is increasing centralization of decision-making and resources as the Communist Party assumes more of the government's decision-making functions.
At the societal level, initiatives by the general public, such as non-governmental organizations, are not welcomed, and heretics and dissident opinions are punished.
So the big question is: Is it really possible for China to cultivate innovators who are curious and creative enough to think outside the box?
And with so little innovation coming from below and joint ventures not as easy as they once were, will it be enough for China to just pour resources into top-down innovation?
Innovation is more than just academic papers and citations, it's a culture that gives young people the space and safety to explore unconventional ideas and bold experiments, whether in technology, business or even public governance.
