Vice President for Science and Technology: Gap Between Academic and Practical Rankings of Artificial Intelligence in the Country Deemed Undesirable.

Focus on Bridging the Gap Between Academic and Practical Applications

According to IDEA, During today’s session on the sidelines of the Cabinet meeting, Dehghani Firouzabadi stated that Iran has achieved relative success in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to him, in the scientific aspect of AI worldwide, Iran ranks 18th and holds the second position in the region, with only a slight difference from Turkey. However, when it comes to the practical application of AI in technology and industry, Iran is ranked 77th. He emphasized that this gap is undesirable and indicates a disconnect in the chain of transforming science into technology. Special planning is required to address this issue, which is already being considered in the upcoming AI document, which focuses on more practical and outcome-oriented approaches.

Deputy for Science and Technology at the Presidential Office also discussed the establishment of a National AI Technology Innovation Center, aiming to recruit at least one thousand researchers to collaborate in this center. He highlighted the importance of staying updated with AI projects, as AI is expected to impact various sectors of the economy significantly.

Additionally, Dehghani Firouzabadi noted that the ethical and legal aspects of AI are relatively unknown worldwide. This is because, unlike other technologies that initially developed in universities and academia, AI has advanced in the industry first, with universities lagging behind. He anticipates that the ethical foundations of AI will soon become a major focus of attention and scrutiny worldwide.

Despite Iran’s achievements, a few months ago, Tortoise Media’s research on the AI index revealed that Iran did not feature in the rankings of countries in the field of AI. Other countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, and Bahrain, have been recognized for their forward-looking government strategies in the field of AI. While these countries may have lower scores in terms of skilled talents and research and development, it is suggested that infrastructure limitations in Iran’s internet connectivity and regulatory challenges have hindered growth in this field.

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