Vladimir Putin alleges that recent AI models “erase Russian culture” and has introduced what he terms as Russia’s fresh strategy to counter American supremacy in the realm of artificial intelligence.
During a conference on artificial intelligence (AI) in Moscow on Friday, the president asserted that Russian investment in AI development was on the rise across all sectors.
Illustrating with Gazprom Neft, one of Russia’s major oil producers, Mr. Putin highlighted the utilization of AI to drive down costs in oil well development and address intricate transportation security challenges.
“I anticipate enhanced efficiency in this domain. By ‘we,’ I refer not only to the government but also to regions, industries, and specific plants,” stated Mr. Putin.
Emphasizing the need for intensified exploration in conceptual AI and large language models, which currently trail behind leading Western tools such as Google’s Bard chatbots and OpenAI ChatGPT, the Russian leader expressed his discontent with “American search engines” and conceptual AI models, labeling them as “highly cautious and biased.”
According to him, their true potential has only begun to surface in the past year. He criticized these models for disregarding Russian society and, at times, neglecting it completely. Simply put, he remarked, “The machine is given a creative essay and completes it solely based on the English language database.”
The algorithm, he warned, may lead to the perception that Russia, with its traditions, science, music, and literature, is virtually non-existent. “They are erased in the digital realm, so to speak,” Mr. Putin conveyed at the conference.
He cautioned that AI developed under “Western standards” could breed a form of xenophobia.
Advocating for the incorporation of the entirety of global culture, history, knowledge, and wisdom into local models of artificial intelligence, Mr. Putin stressed the significance of upholding traditional values, the richness and grace of the Russian language, and the languages of diverse cultures within Russia.
Stating that the US and UK lag behind the rest of the world in AI engineering, the Russian president denounced the “monopolistic supremacy” of technology as “unacceptable, perilous, and intolerable.”
“Our advancements should be rooted in our traditional values, the richness and eloquence of the Russian language, and the languages of other cultures present in Russia,” he added.
He urged for the augmentation of Russia’s computational capabilities and the enhancement of top-tier AI education to propel further development.
