The political economy of artificial intelligence: the case of GermanyABSTRACT
Introduction: At the dawn of the 21st century, digital technologies - e.g., high-speed mobile internet (5G), artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics, and cloud computing - have had profound impacts on the international political economy. Among them, AI has sparked political, social, and economic effects, including industrial restructuring, new business models, data privacy laws, labor transformations, and new educational methods. These effects are particularly evident in rich democracies such as Germany, where AI is incentivized through government plans like the National Industrial Strategy 2030 and the Artificial Intelligence Strategy. However, several challenges characterize this technology diffusion. In this article, I analyze and interpret this phenomenon, investigating which political and economic dynamics outline the spread of AI in Germany.
Materials and Methods: This research is based on 21 interviews conducted in Germany, with experts from the market and academia, between October 2019 and July 2020, in addition to the analysis of 16 government reports and literature review.
Results: The results indicate that (1) AI has a variety of applications in the country, both in academic research and market goods and services, and (2) the government is approaching universities and companies to boost AI. However, (3) several challenges to the dissemination of AI and its effects have been identified: risks to the workforce associated with job automation, technological aversion by some social groups and business managers, entrepreneurial gap and limited number of start-ups, few qualified human resources in AI, data privacy policy still in adequacy, and deficits in digital infrastructure.
Discussion: The study contributes to the literature on the political economy of AI in three aspects. First, it is one of the inaugurals works in Brazil to investigate AI through systematic field research. Second, despite its industrial and technological excellence, Germany faces challenges to enter digital economy, a phenomenon has not been too explored in the literature. Third, although it does not focus on Brazil, the study highlights potential challenges to Brazilian industrial and technological policy in a global scene of increasing digitalization.
Keywords artificial intelligence; Germany; technology policy; varieties of capitalism; Industry 4.0