The Chinese robotics market is growing strong, but not without its own pains. Trade tensions and a global economic slowdown, particularly in automotive manufacturing, have affected demand in the Chinese robotics market. However, interest in supply chain automation and political support of domestic innovation could encourage growth in 2020. This is Part 2 of The Robot Report's Q&A with Georg Stieler, managing director for Asia at international consulting firm STM Stieler. In Part 1, he discussed the state of the robotics market in China, looking at causes for the current slowdown and what types of robots are in demand. Here, Stieler continues his analysis with a look ahead.

Serial cybersecurity entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer said in a 2005 interview that cybersecurity is "a bit like Alice in Wonderland" where you run as fast as you can only to stay in place. In 2020, to paraphrase the second part of the Red Queen's observation (actually from Through the Looking Glass), if you wish to stay ahead of cyber criminals, you must run twice--or ten times--as fast as that. The 141 predictions listed here reveal the state-of-mind of key participants in the cybersecurity defense industry and highlight all that's hot today. The future is murky, but we know for sure that on January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will go into effect; that the U.S. presidential election will take place on November 3, 2020; and that on October 1, 2020, if you "wish to fly on commercial aircrafts or access federal facilities" in the U.S., you must have a REAL ID compliant card. Other than these known events, the crystal balls of the participants in this survey warn us ...

Expect to hear a lot about deepfakes in 2020. It's not that manipulating images is anything new, but with technology advantages and the increasing use of biometrics as an authentication tool, deepfakes will impact cybersecurity efforts. For example, cybercriminals are now perfecting deepfakes to impersonate people to steal money and anything that might be valuable. The technology has been improved to reach a higher level, where it becomes difficult to tell the difference between a fraud and a friend. According to McAfee researchers, deepfakes will make it more difficult to achieve true facial recognition, just as facial recognition software is increasingly used to unlock smartphones and as airport identification alternatives, to name a few use cases.

Artificial Intelligence is dynamically changing the landscape of the world and it is expected to dramatically affect all significant aspects of human life as well. The technology that simulates intelligent behavior in machines has enabled people to process. Analyze and transform information and develop a whole novel industry. For such reasons, countries like America and China are eagerly ready to steal AI's thunder to gain leadership and supremacy in this space. AI is significantly bringing about economic, political and military strength across any country in today's age. Owing to such advents, it is crucial for the USA to get AI right into its system and to start with the development, first step is always creating a meaningful strategy.

At stake is the superiority in economics and geopolitics. Whoever wins the race, will become the world leader. In recent years, the United States and China have entered into a real arms race in the field of high technology, including developments in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum measurements and the new generation 5G Internet. This is not the whole list of competitive areas. The White House administration has already declared the development of A.I. a national priority, and tightens policies in the field of information leaks and development abroad. Although such measures may also be insufficient, as the world of high technology is becoming increasingly unsafe in the field of information storage and leaks.

China's huge population is helping the nation make great strides in facial-recognition technology.Credit: Gilles Sabrie/NYT/eyevine China not only has the world's largest population and looks set to become the largest economy -- it also wants to lead the world when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). In 2017, the Communist Party of China set 2030 as the deadline for this ambitious AI goal, and, to get there, it laid out a bevy of milestones to reach by 2020. These include making significant contributions to fundamental research, being a favoured destination for the world's brightest talents and having an AI industry that rivals global leaders in the field. As this first deadline approaches, researchers note impressive leaps in the quality of China's AI research. They also predict a shift in the nation's ability to retain homegrown talent.

A new national research institution has been launched by China that will be focusing on providing education to the country's children regarding artificial intelligence from an early age, as well as, introduce more applications of artificial intelligence into the academic arena, as reported by the Beijing News. Artificial Intelligence Education Research Institute of the China Children's is a joint venture of the top schools such as Peking University and China National Children's Center, which is a non-profit organization under the cabinet of the country i.e. the Ministry of Education. The target of the institute is to research the ways by which artificial intelligence will be changing the ways kids are taught, as well as, for sparking an interest in artificial intelligence which would be preparing them well for a future that will be saturated with technology. The ambitious plans of China are to become the superpower of artificial intelligence across the globe, however, it was shown in a research that it still lags behind those nations that are developed in terms of artificial intelligence talent. With the target of expanding the domestic artificial intelligence sector, two years ago announcement was made by Chinese authorities regarding a plan for getting the education institutions to advance the talent pool of the artificial intelligence by giving encouragement to the kids in learning techniques like enhancing the present system of education, and by coding intelligent education which involves using artificial intelligence to teach, as well as, implement technologies such as facial recognition in the lecture hall.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, as an expression, was originally introduced by Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum's Executive Chairman. He used it in a 2015 article published in Foreign Affairs. Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution became the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting theme a few years ago. The Fourth Industrial Revolution describes the fundamental changes influencing in the way we work, relate, and live with one another. It is based on the extraordinary technological advances that are merging the digital world with our business and social interactions.

This was not so much a transformation in terms of connectivity – nearly half the people in the world are not yet internet users, and if you are from a low-income country you probably only have patchy access to 3G if you are lucky. This was a change in the scale and reach of the world's data infrastructures, to a point where no one is truly invisible any more. You may not be able to reach the connected world, but it can certainly reach you. One clear sign of this internationalisation of infrastructure was the expansion of AI-enabled surveillance. A Carnegie Foundation report shows that 47 out of the 65 countries using AI surveillance are doing so with Chinese technology, though US and European firms are also providing substantial amounts.

The Diplomat's Franz-Stefan Gady talks to Elsa B. Kania about the potential implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for the military and how the world's leading military powers -- the United States, China, and Russia -- are planning to develop and deploy AI-enabled technologies in future warfighting. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her research focuses on Chinese military innovation in emerging technologies. She is also a Research Fellow with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University and a non-resident fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in Harvard University's Department of Government. Kania is the author of numerous articles and reports including Battlefield Singularity: Artificial Intelligence, Military Revolution, and China's Future Military Power and A New Sino-Russian High-Tech Partnership. Her most recent report is Securing Our 5G Future, and she also recently co-authored a policy brief AI Safety, Security, and Stability Among Great Powers. She can be followed @EBKania.