On 28 August 2023, NSTDA held a press conference to announce the progress of Thailand National AI Strategy and Action Plan after one year into its implementation.
Artificial intelligence (AI) possesses great potential to improve people’s quality of life and make significant contribution to the development of various sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, health, education and tourism. To guide the AI development and its application, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MHESI) in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society jointly developed Thailand National AI Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2027. The implementation of this action plan was spearheaded by a committee of which NSTDA and the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission serve as co-secretariats.
During the press conference, NSTDA President Prof. Dr. Sukit Limpijumnong highlighted achievements accomplished since the release of the AI mater plan. These include the release of Thailand’s first AI ethics handbook and a self-learning course on AI ethics, as well as the launch of AI Governance Clinic, all of which aimed at promoting the responsible use of AI. In term of infrastructure development, the Government Data Center and Cloud Service (GDCC) has been established to serve as a central cloud system for storing government data, and LANTA, the most powerful supercomputer system in ASEAN, has been put into service to support the vast array of AI research in the public and private domains.
“The AI subcommittee on human resource development (HRD) has endorsed the AIHRD Plan aiming at developing workforce with AI skill to support the diverse needs of industrial sector,” revealed Prof. Sukit. In addition, Thai Poverty Map and Analytics Platform (TPMAP) represents a practical use of AI. TPMAP is an AI-powered government big data system that creates accurate poverty maps. TPMAP has already been deployed in 76 provinces to support poverty alleviation and skill development initiatives.
Overall, 83,721 individuals have received AI training and 1.29-billion THB funding has been disbursed to finance AI R&D projects. An investment of 639 million THB has been made towards AI startups and Thailand’s ranking in AI Government Readiness Index moved up from 59th place to 31st place.
The press conference also featured a signing of a collaborative agreement to develop Medical AI Data Sharing Platform. The development will be carried out by three main organizations - NSTDA, the Department of Medical Services and the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University - with funding support from the Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B). The Medical AI Data Sharing Platform will facilitate the use of AI in medical applications such as AIChest4All which is an AI-power software co-developed by the Department of Medical Services and Thammasat University for screening diseases such as lung cancer and tuberculosis.