UK manufacturing firms will need to see their public and private investment in artificial intelligence increase, in order to remain competitive against rising economies focusing on the technology and to escape the cold shadow cast by the US and China. Although China and the US will likely be the key power players in AI-driven economies of the future, ascendant countries such as Singapore, Israel, Ireland and Finland pose significant competition for British firms, who are among other "traditional champions" of the technology like their Canadian, French and German counterparts. The data, which assessed the research performance, start-up funding and supercomputing prowess of 54 countries, is derived from the Global AI Index. It suggests a coming and radical power shift from economies that are "no longer defined by gross domestic product (GDP) or geography…[but] according to their capacity to take part in a global system shaped by artificial intelligence." The report looks at the impact of private investment in artificial intelligence, while also considering the critical role public, or state, finance can have on a country's global ranking.

Q1. On 3rd of December 2019 in London, you have released "The Global AI Index" ranking 54 countries. What was the prime motivation for producing such an index? Alexandra Mousavizadeh: Artificial intelligence is an engine of change, for better or for worse. Increasingly, our daily lives are impacted by technologies using machine learning, and businesses are using them to support more and more of their processes. Our motivation for producing the Index here at Tortoise was to monitor and help explain this change on a global scale.

Artificial intelligence is poised to transform the way we work, learn and live. Across the globe, businesses, governments and the public at large are already having to adapt to the rapid development of these technologies. The Global AI Index analyses how 54 countries are driving and adapting to AI's accelerating development through three pillars; investment, innovation and implementation. Here is the Index in full. Use the toggle to switch between our Index's ranks – where countries stand – or score – how far or close they are to each other.