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Pakistan's Artificial Intelligence & Automated Future

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Pakistan's Artificial Intelligence & Automated Future

Over the last 20 years the Pakistani economy has exploded. The GDP has grown by nearly 5x from 1998 to 2008, many point to the society which puts a high value on education like their neighbor, China. The pursuit of education coupled with an abundance of skilled laborers have provided the economic kindling to spark Pakistan's economy.

Pakistan has a hot startup scene that boasts companies in every type of field. The Pakistani government has made education and the pursuit of technology a major priority and has subsidized both education and research. Pakistan has also become more and more connected to not just its neighbor China, but also to the US. Companies such as Oracle and Microsoft looked to Pakistan to open up offices in order to take advantage of the deep pool of engineers.

As the world grapples with a shortage of skilled laborers, many of the largest tech companies have been looking all over the world for a new supply of talent. Many of those companies have found their answer in Pakistan. Pakistan is a country with a rich history in the study of math and has had Pakistan is a country where engineers earn just $4 per hour and Pakistan has an abundance of talented individuals who are now choosing to either start their own tech firm emigrating abroad to pursue high tech jobs.

Only 2,500 Pakistanis entered the United States in the time period of 1947 and 1965 according to the US Immigration Bureau. But from 2000 to 2015, the population exploded from 200,000 to over 500,000. Furthermore a Pakistani is nearly 2.5x more likely to pursue a postgrad degree than the average American according the Pew Society.

Like their neighboring India, Pakistan has always held education very high in their society. This tradition has fostered a commitment to education and a pursuit of the study of technology, turning Pakistan into a great breeding ground for the world's engineers.

In addition to the Pakistani Math Society, The Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, formerly known as the Koshish Foundation Research Lab is a growing player in Pakistani technological research. They utilize AI to explore information and communication technologies.

Their main projects focus on improving Pakistan's agricultural presence through a series of projects using AI. One such project is using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to build more effect weather monitoring stations across Pakistan. Such a plan is essential for Pakistan because of the country's many extreme weather events or natural disasters.

RCAI is also working on is a Smart Irrigation System. In 2016, they partnered with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence to create a waste-reducing irrigation system using AI. This system was able to reduce the water usage for a single crop cycle by over 40 percent - a considerable decrease in water usage is a massive step for farmers in Pakistan, and RCAI is utilizing A.I to lead the way for Pakistan.

Baseh technologies is a Pakistani company that has gained international acclaim for the creation of an Ai news reader, named Dante. Addo Ai, Affiniti and many more Pakistani Ai firms are helping Pakistan lead the way into an Ai future!

Written by James Mueller, Edited by Alexander Fleiss

Sources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/03/30/prior-to-lahore-bombing-pakistanis-were-critical-of-taliban-and-other-extremist-groups/pakistan-2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_Americans