The United States and China have been early purveyors of artificial intelligence (AI), but more investment in these disruptive technologies could help drive Europe’s industry in the not-so-distant future.
“AI is a priority for transforming industry. This, and other automation processes offer enormous potential for transforming European society in terms of innovation and for helping to solve key societal challenges,” writes Bernd Dittmann in The Parliament Magazine.
According to Ditmann, Europe is lagging the U.S. and China in terms of investment in artificial intelligence, but the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is pushing for more innovation. It will be the hot button issue discussed at the third Industry Days event, taking place in Brussels on February 6, 2019.
“We need pan-European norms and standards for AI, just as we have food and household appliances,” stressed Catelijne Muller, EESC member and president of the temporary study group on AI.
The impact of AI is compelling and global management firm Accenture modeled this in conjunction with Frontier Economics. The research looked at the size of 12 developed economies in 2035, which shows expected economic growth under current assumptions as well an AI scenario showing expected growth once the impact of AI dilutes itself into the economy.
The U.S. came out on top, but various European countries followed.
“The EESC has stressed the importance of a European AI infrastructure built on open-source learning environments that respect privacy, real-life test environments and high-quality data sets to develop and train AI systems,” Dittmann noted. “These challenges cannot be left to the business community alone; governments, social partners, scientists and businesses all need to be involved. The EESC believes that it is time for the EU to set standards and become a world leader in this field.”
An Innovative ETF Alternative
Investors looking to capitalize on the global growth of AI can look to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (NasdaqGM: BOTZ). BOTZ is off to a strong start in 2019–up 11 percent thus far year-to-date.
BOTZ to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index. The underlying index is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are involved in the development of robotics and/or artificial intelligence as defined by Indxx, the provider of the underlying index.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.