AI as a thing in itself.  Or not?

Deputy Prime Minister Novak spoke at the international conference “Journey into the World of Artificial Intelligence.”

“The Russian economy is undergoing a period of transformation, searching for new growth opportunities. The President has approved ambitious national goals that affect all areas of life, including creating a comfortable environment, achieving sustainable economic development, and technological leadership, including digital transformation. New technologies in the field of artificial intelligence are becoming the foundation for addressing these challenges, increasing the efficiency and innovation of the economy,” Novak emphasized.

“Today, a fundamental technological transformation is taking place. Experts note that the gap between companies actively implementing artificial intelligence and those lagging behind will only widen. Those who quickly restructure their processes and implement the ‘human plus artificial intelligence’ model will win,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

It seems that the fascination with “digitizing” everything and everyone on a national scale, or as it’s now fashionable to call it, “digital transformation,” has overshadowed the most fundamental issues related to the aforementioned large-scale national goals of socioeconomic development and technological leadership. The fact that efficiency and, especially, innovation are ultimately achieved not through the extensive use of AI, but primarily through robust and deliberate (planned) investments is almost never discussed at major forums. And this is precisely what’s missing today.

Furthermore, under the current monetary policy of the Central Bank, this is impossible in principle. Development is currently taking place only in isolated sectors related to strengthening the country’s defense capability. Otherwise, Prime Minister Mishustin, through so-called budgetary support measures, has only succeeded in preventing the collapse of the real sector of the economy.

This is what primarily prevents the practical implementation of plans for sustainable economic development, including innovative development. AI won’t change monetary policy for people and won’t attract investment into the real sector.

I’ll walk your dog… car, house, apartment (from an ad)

A Russian cosmonaut applied for a government service online for the first time while aboard the International Space Station. Using biometrics, the cosmonaut logged into the Gosuslugi portal and used the self-prohibition service for SIM cards from the list of “life situations.” The entire process took just 30 seconds. Digitalization makes access to services as simple as possible, making them quick and convenient. And thanks to modern technologies, including biometrics, government services can now be used anywhere—at home, in the office, and even in Earth orbit.

Everything about this news is wonderful: we have cosmic (literally and figuratively) government services, biometrics are the most convenient way for citizens (in space, SMS messages don’t arrive, but here, you can use your face without them), there’s a miracle self-prohibition service that works (even in space) — you can ban yourself from anything you like, the operation takes seconds, you go to the list of “life situations,” press a button — and you’re done. Or, well done to the person who logged in for you, without a passport, remotely, without any risk of being caught, and in 30 seconds “walked your dog, house, apartment, car.”

After all, it was like that in the stagnant, uninteresting, and inconvenient analog world: citizens had paper property titles (they could be stolen, after all), and to change ownership, they had to collect dozens of statements from different offices (a waste of time), then have the contract notarized, and both the seller and buyer had to visit in person (a chore) and present their passports for final registration of the transaction (last century), and the buyer received a paper title deed. Isn’t that a nightmare? But here, everything is in one place, digitally, convenient. Including for scammers, of course. Well, that’s just the byproduct of humanity’s digital evolution. And why do you need property? Look, Schwab & Co. have long been explaining that the coming inclusive capitalism doesn’t provide for property ownership for ordinary citizens. Get used to it.

Although, if you impose a self-imposed ban on everything, then no scammer will be able to steal anything from you. True, there’s a catch: then the citizen themselves won’t be able to do anything remotely through Gosuslugi. And this can’t be allowed. Therefore, the list of “life situations” with the possibility of self-prohibition will always be incomplete, and scammers will always have a 30-second window to use a convenient remote digital service for our own safety. After all, renowned IT security experts have long been sounding the alarm, explaining wherever possible that total digitalization for scammers is, in its purest form, a miserable chance at a game of preference.