(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- Greece got quite a head start in the artificial intelligence stakes. Greeks came to the omniscient AI-like Oracle of Delphi to consult the god Apollo before making key decisions. The Antikythera mechanism that charted astronomical movements predated Alan Turing’s analog computers -- which he dubbed “Oracle machines” -- by over 2,000 years, while the giant bronze robot Talos protected the island of Crete, flinging boulders at enemy ships.

Myth and early techno-prowess are now the new reality as Greece reasserts its AI primacy. Multinational firms have splurged to build huge data centers there lately, and it is becoming a European data super hub, news portal Greek Reporter reported.

AI is a main axis of Greece’s digital transformation policy. Its ministry of digital governance is also set to release its national AI strategy, The Yuan, an open forum committed to putting the ‘All-Inclusive’ back into AI, reported on November 1.

“The potential of AI in Greece was identified in 2019 in a related Accenture study,” said Dr George Giannakopoulos, research fellow with the National Center for Scientific Research, co-founder of non-profit technology transfer company SciFY, and member of the sectoral Scientific Council regarding Data and AI Policies for the Greek National Council for Research, Technology, and Innovation. AI may add USD195 billion to the nation’s economy from 2020 to 2035, per the study.

AI has already been successfully used in domains ranging from the legal and maritime sectors to consumer goods, a joint report by Boston Consulting Group and Microsoft shows.

Funneling Funding

AI, data science, Internet of Things, robotics, and virtual reality are top choices for funds, according to the Startups in Greece 2020/2021 report co-produced by Greek innovation platform Found.ation, European digital innovation educational organization EIT Digital, and London-based business-to-business marketing agency Velocity Partners.

AI demands careful strategic planning and investment. Training is just one of many steps to advance AI, per Giannakopoulos.

The ahedd Digital Innovation Hub of NCSR, SciFY, and their project 1000 Pioneers for AI have held numerous training sessions in companies large and small and among the public so that AI integrates holistically and effectively, he added. The hub recently earned a gold label as a trusted data incubator from the Big Data Value Association as a reference point in EU data-driven innovation in commercial sectors.

Lefkippos Technology Park houses over 40 innovative companies and five scientific institutes, with world-level research underway there and great collaborations between academia and business, per The Yuan report.

“Greece is a goldmine of information technology and AI expertise,” Giannakopoulos stated.

Preserving Values

“If you combine this with the generally low salaries of software engineers compared with other countries… this implies a very promising investment for companies from abroad… Greek IT workers… work more hours… than our colleagues abroad, but without equivalent compensation,” he noted.

“Greece can lead the way in human-centric, trustworthy AI. This could further our success in attracting positive publicity and funding, while retaining our societal achievements, work rights, but also our basic ideals and values intact.”

Editor: Kim Taylor

Yicai Global is pleased to announce its cooperation with The Yuan (https://www.the-yuan.com) and looks forward to future feature articles from it authored by luminaries of the ilk of Hippo.AI founder Bart de Witte and the many other leading lights in the AI sector who are its regular contributors. The Yuan provides an open community with the aim of averting the emergence of bias and social inequities and inequalities arising from uneven access to AI and, as such, its philosophy closely aligns with Yicai Global’s own stance.