Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Alem.AI.
The head of state shared his vision for the development of artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan and noted the country's enormous potential in the IT sector.
"It is necessary to build an economy based on knowledge and innovation. To be a technologically and economically advanced country, it is important, first of all, to pay special attention to the development of human capital, digitalization and artificial intelligence. In our time, we cannot do without it. Now all of humanity lives in a digital world. According to experts, the effectiveness of artificial intelligence technology will grow every year. Therefore, we are faced with ambitious tasks to make Kazakhstan the largest digital hub in Eurasia. It is necessary to take a fresh look at the issues of digital development," said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The President recalled that earlier in his Address he had put forward an initiative to create a National Artificial Intelligence Center. He proposed to supplement this idea and make the Center international, turning it into a key institute for the development of artificial intelligence in the region.
"The Alem.AI International Center should become the epicenter of the AI movement and a symbol of Kazakhstan's digital transformation. This platform will unite the best minds of our country and attract talents from all over the world. It will house research and development laboratories, a programming school, and offices of international technology companies. Astana Hub and Alem.AI should become a real innovation factory, attracting international partners, stimulating scientific research, and creating solutions for all key sectors of the economy, education, and the social sphere," the head of state said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev considers it important to continue forming the institutional environment. He reported that, on his instructions, the government adopted the Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence for 2024-2029.
"I instruct to create a Council for the Development of Artificial Intelligence with the involvement of leading international experts. This will ensure the synchronization of our institutional environment with advanced global standards. As far as I know, members of parliament have initiated a bill "On Artificial Intelligence". We should approach the legislative work thoroughly. Neural networks not only open up great prospects, but also pose serious risks and threats. For example, high-quality fakes are now being actively created to spread false information and manipulate public opinion. It is necessary to legislatively enshrine the principles of responsible use of artificial intelligence, ethical aspects, and also ensure transparency and openness in its development and application," the president noted.
The head of state touched upon the development of the industry's infrastructure. In his opinion, AI technologies require modern computing power.
"Today, the global market is experiencing an acute shortage of computing resources, which will only increase in the near future. I instruct the government to create the necessary conditions aimed at attracting large international companies to build data centers, as well as implementing global cybersecurity standards and improving the qualifications of specialists," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed.
The speech set another priority task - high-quality digitization and organization of data. The government was instructed to take measures to form data sets on the basis of which the state, business and AI enthusiasts will be able to create, train and develop artificial intelligence models.
"An example of a comprehensive approach in this area is the national language model KazLLM. We have taught artificial intelligence to think, analyze and speak Kazakh. This significant achievement opens up new prospects for the development of the Kazakh language in the digital environment. It is important to continue the extensive work that has begun. It is necessary to create a Multimodal Language Model of the Kazakh language, which will be able to simultaneously use various types of data. I instruct the government to work out the issue of financing projects in this area," the head of state said.
He pointed out the need to improve citizens' competence in the field of artificial intelligence.
As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted, the set plan to train 1 million people in AI skills in 5 years requires special attention. Programs aimed at schoolchildren, students, civil servants and entrepreneurs should receive maximum support.
"Domestic and international educational programs in the field of AI technologies can contribute to strengthening the human resources potential of our country. I instruct the government to work out the issue of the phased implementation of the AI-Sana program for training specialists in the field of artificial intelligence. The program should contribute to the formation of a dynamic ecosystem that combines training, research and startup development. It is necessary to use the experience of acceleration of the world's leading universities. It is necessary to convey to every resident of Kazakhstan the benefits of artificial intelligence, explain why it is needed and how to use it correctly," the president explained.
The government has been instructed to take measures to implement mechanisms for the widespread use of artificial intelligence by citizens.
"Kazakhstan has all the potential to take a leading position in the field of innovation and advanced technologies. Digitalization and widespread implementation of artificial intelligence should become the key to the progressive progress of our country. I am convinced that we can achieve this ambitious goal," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev summed up his speech.
By the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
