How the government plans to introduce AI into the economy and public administration

The authorities intend to intensify the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into the Russian economy in general and into public administration in particular. Speaking at the Sberbank AI conference on Friday, Vladimir Putin proposed introducing large industry models based on generative AI in the Russian Federation in order to increase labor productivity and the subsequent growth of the economy and wages. To join this global trend, the White House will launch an educational program for heads of departments, state corporations and universities in 2024, and will also simplify the use of “regulatory sandboxes” for digital innovations – while simultaneously establishing liability for causing harm when testing breakthrough digital technologies. technologies.

The Sberbank annual conference “Journey into the World of Artificial Intelligence”, held for the eighth time, confirmed the intention of the Russian authorities to at least keep up with the world leaders in the development of artificial intelligence technology. Profile Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko promised that by 2030 Russia will enter the top 5 countries in the world in terms of basic AI metrics, and said that the use of new technologies will increase the size of the Russian economy by 6%.

Vladimir Putin, who attended the conference on Friday, suggested thinking about development based on generative AI (creates texts, videos, images based on queries.— “Kommersant”) large industry models, which should “significantly increase labor productivity, and therefore wages in key areas of the domestic economy.” As the Ministry of Economy explained to Kommersant with reference to expert estimates, the development of such large generative models in the world through a sharp increase in labor productivity can lead to an increase in global GDP by 1–2% annually, allowing for an increase in wages in all sectors of the economy due to an increase in the volume of releasing products and improving their quality. Let us clarify that in these discussions we are talking about large (or otherwise fundamental) models, which are extensive neural networks trained on a large amount of data. Such models, if desired, can be used to solve a wide variety of problems, including industry ones.

In addition to involving AI in solving the problem of economic growth, the authorities promise to use it in the field of public administration – so that officials can make decisions faster and more clearly. And here the task set by the president looks more definite. Judging by his words, already in the first quarter of 2024, ministers, rectors and, apparently, heads of state corporations will be “seated at their desks.” Vladimir Putin instructed the government, together with the Alliance in the field of AI, to formulate an educational program for managers of the largest companies, federal and regional authorities, universities and secondary vocational education systems on the theory and practice of using AI – with a special emphasis on large language and generative models.

As the Ministry of Economy explained to Kommersant, the purpose of this training will be the introduction of AI in government agencies and state-owned companies to optimize their work processes. Senior Managing Director – Head of the National AI Development Department of Sberbank Vladimir Averbakh notes that “from our experience, training of top officials, top management and middle management is a prerequisite for preparing for the implementation of AI technologies.”

The authorities also intend to “push” entrepreneurs to use AI. As previously reported, the use of this technology by companies will become a prerequisite for them to receive subsidies from the federal budget. Starting next year, this approach will be tested at enterprises with annual revenues of more than 800 million rubles, operating in agriculture, transport, industry and healthcare, said Dmitry Chernyshenko. In addition to coercive measures, there will, however, also be a “carrot”. Vladimir Putin on Friday promised to consider allocating additional funds for research and development in the field of generative AI and large language models if leading Russian companies co-finance such work and ensure testing of the results obtained.

Finally, the topic of government regulation has not been forgotten. Vladimir Putin said that the government has prepared amendments to the law on experimental legal regimes (EPR) in the field of digital innovation. Let us remember that we are talking about a law adopted in 2020 that allows the government to give some companies in a certain territory the right to temporarily deviate from current regulations for the sake of introducing innovative technologies (“regulatory sandboxes”). Judging by the president’s words, the amendments he announced simplify the use of EPR (“many unnecessary bureaucratic requirements are removed”), but at the same time they possibly complicate it, establishing “liability for causing harm to health, life or property as a result of testing the use of breakthrough digital technologies.” It has been promised that the White House will introduce amendments soon – so that they will work in 2024.

Venera Petrova, Vadim Visloguzov