ISLAMABAD: Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said the final draft of the Artificial Intelligence policy would be presented to the federal cabinet for approval in August.

Addressing a meeting of the Special Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, he directed the quarters concerned to complete the consultation process with all stakeholders as soon as possible.

He highlighted the importance of AI in the modern era. “Artificial Intelligence is not the future but the present reality in the world,” he said, terming it an essential tool for advancement in multiple fields.

The minister recalled that it was the PML-N government that had established the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in 2017 and the National Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in 2023.

“We have created National Centres for Excellence in Advanced Technologies under Vision 2025 and linked each centre to engineering labs in eight to ten universities.”

He said the world was developing rapidly in various aspects of Artificial Intelligence, and Pakistan has to catch its pace.

He pointed out that some countries were not granting visas to Pakistani students for education in modern technology, but “we will obtain modern technology at any cost”.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2024