The South Korean government announced Thursday it would spend 1 trillion won (US$840 million) by 2020 to boost the artificial intelligence industry. It also plans to support the civilian-led establishment of a high-profile research center tasked with serving as a "pivot" of the nation's research and development in the field. Six large local firms -- Samsung and LG Electronics, SKT, KT, Naver and Hyundai Motor -- have decided to join the initiative, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/03/17/0200000000AEN20160317003751320.html I bet they were so impressed by DeepMind winning that Go match.
They might as well enter the race big-time, in respect to what could fall out of it. The government or collective national industry that achieves the nearest approximation someday to an archailect or technological singularity will likely be able to control the world or at least "amiably" hold it hostage on many competitive fronts (if the former can hold on to the allegiance of the latter). Barring major advances in quantum cryptography to shore-up security and defensive measures, the system could both outrun and anticipate the possible combinations of countermeasures. Even if everything wasn't so connected and vulnerable, just having the ultimate creative / inventive, planning, solution-solving "thinker" would still be a devastating advantage when restricted to the "friendly" arena of commercial / economic superiority. Ironically, by being so backward, internet-isolated, and retro-oriented with Cold War era weaponry pursuits, North Korea could still pose a potential threat to a super-AI augmented South Korea.
