LtoR- Nesma Bensalem, Sonam Pelden, Audrey Low, Richard Rothenberg and Moderator Pema R. Wangchug

The world of AI and Augmented Reality: Can Bhutan Benefit?

The panel discussion on the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) in Bhutan, included AI’s role in enhancing efficiency and personalization, and AR’s ability to bridge digital and physical worlds.

The panelists highlighted the importance of ethical AI, aligning with Bhutan’s values of Gross National Happiness (GNH), and the need for a governance framework to ensure responsible data use. They also stressed the importance of local data and cultural values in AI development, advocating for a “Bhutanese flavor” of AI. The discussion was on the need for proactive policies and collaboration between public, private, and entrepreneurial sectors.

Sonam Pelden, a co-founder and chief art officer at Curiouser AI shared that if you look at what’s happening in the world of AI right now, there are three trends that kind of dictate why and how a technology will be adopted within a community or a population.

“The first one is the rapid improvement of the technology, which is what we’re seeing in the space of AI. The second one is the speed of adoption, and that is also rampant in Bhutan. Recently, there was a stat that said that 15.9% Bhutan’s population were using chatgpt, which is pretty high, or the highest in the region. And the third one being specific gaps within critical sectors in the country. And I’m sure we can all agree with all the views that we see every day with the teacher shortages, the WHO has talked about how the doctor patient ratio should be like one doctor to every 1000 population, but we are below that by 50% so it is a perfect place, in theory and on paper, for AI and AR to be adopted.”

“But having said that, I feel like a lot of the times, the speed at which the tech is adopted is rapid, and the policies and the regulations cannot keep up with it. So, for us and with all the policy makers within this room right now, what I would urge us to do is actually look at regulations. Users are quick. Users are able to use it faster than we can keep up with it.”

She shared that it is about values. “When we look at AI development from the perspective of how large language models are being built today, it’s all being built using data, information and reinforced by developers in the western world right now. So, when we talk about aligning data or AI with our values, the first question we need to ask is, whose values you need?”

“In the Bhutanese context, we can’t say that just by copy pasting or by using a technology that is available somewhere out there, it’s going to solve issues that we have here, I think a lot of the times, in the context of Bhutan, we have the tendency to think that every offline problem we have could be solved with a digital solution, when, in fact, sometimes there might be simpler, more rudimentary options available,” she added.

She said that using AI or technology for the sake of it may not necessarily be the answer, but really looking at how it could really cater to and serve Bhutanese people.

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