Abstract

It can be said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the digital technology that has probably achieved the most important impact and degree of social penetration, following an exponential evolution in recent years. Despite this recent explosion, AI has an almost century-old history, dating back to the work of scientists and technologists who laid its foundations from the second half of the last century. AI also has a long history in Catalonia that begins, among others, with the figure of Professor Emeritus Ramon López de Mántaras and the creation of the AI Research Institute of the CSIC (IIIA-CSIC). This article takes a tour of AI in Catalonia, starting with the main agents that make up the AI research ecosystem in our country. The CATALONIA.AI strategy, deployed since 2020, is presented next, highlighting the business innovation axes that are promoted by this strategy and that materialise with the activities led by the Centre for Innovation in Data Technologies and Artificial Intelligence (CIDAI), and which will be described both qualitatively and quantitatively. The article also addresses the transformative potential of AI, in conjunction with other closely related emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), high-performance computing (HPC) or cloud computing and its most current variants such as edge computing. Next, the paper analyses the recurring barriers to a multisectoral implementation of AI, which, among others, refer to issues such as data availability or lack of qualified talent. The article presents the current state of AI in Catalonia based on the sectoral report recently published by ACCIO (May '24). It then focuses on Generative AI, illustrating the basic principles of the foundational models and developing the multisectoral and multimodal opportunities and the impact that this variant of AI will have on the different productive and business sectors. In parallel to these technological issues, the article also delves into the main consequences of the AI regulations that Europe has approved and how companies with products or services based on AI systems will have to adapt to them. Finally, the article gives an overview of future trends, with a special focus on quantum computing and its intersection with AI.