ISLAMABAD : Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja has emphasized the need to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning by modernizing the country’s education system and curriculum to prepare young people for skilled jobs, empower them and make them comparable to the rest world.
The minister said that the world is fast adopting artificial intelligence but Pakistan is lagging far behind the community of nations. The use of artificial intelligence technologies can help in implementing an effective system of management and transparency, and safe city traffic monitoring systems are a great example in this regard, she noted.
Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director of SDPI, said: “We live in an age of unparalleled information and have become knowledge managers with unlimited data readily available”. With this opportunity, however, he added, “we must take responsibility for the ethical use of information.”
Prof. Dr. Nasir Mahood, Vice-Chancellor, AIOU, emphasized the need to match the speed of our response to the speed of AI transformation, increase investment in the AI and ICT sector to promote indigenization to match the pace of the rest of the world. He further said that improving the artificial intelligence ecosystem in Pakistan will also help retain indigenous talent and boost economic development.
Brig. Muhammad Yasin (Retd), Senior Advisor Emeritus, SDPI said AI is modernizing industry, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. to increase productivity. “While AI can transform the cybersecurity landscape, its rapid adoption often leaves critical gaps in protection that cause breaches of critical government and private data. Hence, it is crucial to modernize the cyber security infrastructure to meet these emerging challenges.” Referring to research reports in 2023, he said that 25% of Pakistan’s internet users faced online threats, which calls for early establishment of user and data protection cyber security infrastructure based on artificial intelligence.
Dr. Mukarram Khan, Director General of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, said that PTA is using big data and trend analysis to track cybercriminals, improve telecom services and has introduced Cyber Security Strategy 2023-28 to address emerging cyber security challenges.
Mudassir Hussain, vice president of Jazz, said cyber security regulation needs to take a comprehensive approach. He called for avoiding excessive regulation for sustainability and creating demand for the use of artificial intelligence in public procurement systems and the private sector.
Muhammad Aslam Hayat, Senior Policy Fellow, LIRNEAisa said that the use of artificial intelligence in cyber security can enable much faster response, threat detection and prevention for better cyber security. He emphasized the need to develop cybersecurity regulatory frameworks to ensure interpretability, scalability and innovation.
Dr Yasir Ayaz, Chairman, National Center for Artificial Intelligence, NUST highlighted that AI software market revenue will reach $126 billion by 2025, with 37% of organizations already implementing AI in some form, and enterprise AI usage growing in by 270% in 2025. the last four years. Artificial intelligence is expected to create 133 million new jobs by 2030 and displace about 400 million workers between 2016 and 2030, according to Forbes. AI will boost employment more than current projections; however, this requires adopting emerging technology and upskilling the workforce, he argued.
Dr. Mehreen Afzal, executive director of N-CERT, said policymakers need to carefully assess how to regulate the use of AI technologies and balance the need to keep powerful weapons out of the reach of malicious actors without stifling innovation.
Dr Faisal Nawaz, Deputy Director General, Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Defense emphasized the need for collaboration and linkages with countries leading the AI transformation, data sharing mechanisms and long-term national policies and plans for effective adoption and use of AI.
Mr. Zakir Syed, Director of Internet Governance, Ministry of Information Technology, noted that the global artificial intelligence market is expected to reach a potential of $1 trillion by 2030. He added that a skilled workforce trained in AI may develop in the next five years.
Dr. Hajra Ahmed, Dean, Faculty of Science, AIOU, said Pakistan needs to equip its students to adapt to these emerging trends by updating our curriculum through thoughtful policy reforms.
Dr Kashif Naseer, Associate Professor, University of Limerick, Ireland highlighted that the FIA Cybercrime Wing registered 84,764 cybercrime complaints in 2020, with the most common complaint being financial fraud through social media. Emerging cybercrimes can be tackled using AI threat detection and prevention, incident response automation and predicting future cyberattacks using trend and data analysis, he added.
