The AI Monitor, published for the third time by the German Economic Institute and the German Digital Economy Association, analyses developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
For this purpose, 14 indicators in the areas of framework conditions, economy and society are summarised to form an AI index. The index is standardised to 100 points for the base year 2019. The index value rose to 107.0 points in 2020 and further to 123.2 points in 2021. For 2022, however, the AI index only recorded 122.0 points, thus reflecting a negative trend for the first time. In view of the great importance of AI technologies for Germany’s competitiveness, this is worrying.
In particular, the framework conditions for the development and use of AI are inadequate in Germany. The individual indicators in the area of framework conditions have already had a negative impact on the overall index in previous years. Only the expansion of digital infrastructure shows a positive trend in the general conditions category, but lags behind in international comparison. In contrast, the number of scientific publications on AI has decreased, as has the importance of AI in debates and legislative proposals in the Bundestag.
The economic significance of AI has also declined slightly compared to the previous year. Compared to the previous year, the indicators in the economic category contribute 1.22 index points less to the overall index. However, this decline is less alarming in view of the continued large overall increase in the economic importance of AI compared to the base year 2019.
The individual indicators of the use of AI, the assessment of the importance of AI in companies, AI in annual reports and AI job advertisements are all still at a high level despite moderate declines in 2022. The number of AI patent applications has risen slightly. As in previous years, low positive rates of change can be observed for the indicators in the society category.
Finally, the AI Monitor formulates specific recommendations for action to promote AI as an important pillar of German competitiveness. For example, politicians must work towards greater legal certainty and less fragmentation with regard to the regulation of AI and open data exchange. Furthermore, investments and start-up activities in the field of AI should be promoted more strongly.
