Piedmont aims to become a leader in Europe in the AI revolution

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The global Artificial Intelligence market will be worth 150.2 billion euros in 2023 and is forecast to grow by 36.8% until 2030. These are the figures emerging from a study Competence Center Nazionale CIM4.0 presented at the 18th edition of the A&T Fair (14-16 February) at the Oval Lingotto in Turin). The challenges and opportunities of this new technology will also involve Piedmont, which will face them at the forefront. The Region and Turin have in fact been chosen as the headquarters of the Italian Centre for Artificial Intelligence, while the president Alberto Cirio has been entrusted by the Economic Policy Commission (Econ) of the European Committee of the Regions with the task of writing, on behalf of the group, an opinion on this technological tool. The drafting of the document, to be approved by the plenary assembly, is scheduled for November 2024. The topic will be 'The challenges and opportunities of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector: defining the role of regions and local authorities'.

Piedmont has a strong tradition in the automotive, manufacturing, IT and electronics and semi-conductor industries, as well as a high-level university and research environment. In general, it is an environment that is attentive to innovations, such as artificial intelligence. In 2022, according to Anitec-Assinform, the association that groups ICT companies in Confindustria, the Ai turnover in Piedmont will exceed 43 million euros, compared to 422 million at national level. The region also has significant growth prospects and, according to estimates, will post +67.2% compared to 2022 by the end of this year. In 2024, the artificial intelligence market is therefore expected to reach €72.9 million.

"Promoting a European approach to the subject is a strategic objective for keeping up with innovation and creating coordination between states, regions and cities, particularly with regard to the public sector," explained the president of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio. "The regions can play a key role in ensuring training at both public and private level, and synergy between industry, academic institutions and start-ups, also thanks to the funding provided by the Pnrr. So it is a great honour,' he concluded, 'that Piedmont has been chosen for this assignment, in recognition of our excellence in the technological field, confirmed by the many applications of Ai that are already an integral part of our manufacturing and production system'.

According to the CIM4.0 study presented in Turin, the manufacturing industry will benefit the most from the adoption of EI, with an expected gain of $3.8 trillion by 2035. This tool could be instrumental in helping small and medium-sized enterprises on their path to economic and environmental sustainability. However, there are several critical issues to be addressed. For example, there will be many workers who will have to reinvent themselves or risk losing their jobs (8.4 million in Italy, according to Confartigianato, of which 27% in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta). The Ai, however, could create 97 million new jobs worldwide, says the report presented at the A&T Fair, countering concerns about mass redundancies.

For the transition to bring more benefits than difficulties, however, the so-called 'Ai Divide', i.e. the gap in adoption of artificial intelligence between large and small companies, must be avoided. According to CIM 4.0 analysts, worldwide only 8 per cent of small and medium-sized companies use Ai in production and 6 per cent in logistics, while in large companies these percentages reach 26 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. High costs, a lack of training or delays in digitisation are the factors holding back SMEs in Italy as well.