Financial Associated Press, November 5 (Editor Niu Zhanlin) Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Director of the Presidential Office of the Russian Federation, said that artificial intelligence (AI) can help Russia increase productivity and cope with the challenges brought about by population decline.
Speaking at the "Creating the Future" international symposium in Moscow on Monday, Oreshkin noted that new technologies are entering all areas of the economy and driving global economic growth.
He said: "Artificial intelligence is our future and will increasingly penetrate many areas of our lives. It will become a major driver of global economic growth, especially with the demographic changes that Russia and the rest of the world are experiencing. in the context of
Russia's birth rate this year is the lowest in 25 years, with only 599,600 babies born in the first half of the year. According to official statistics, Russia's fertility rate last year was 1.41, the lowest level in 17 years.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshenko previously warned that Russia is facing a "terrible" demographic crisis, which will lead to a serious shortage of Russian labor, and the gap may reach 2.4 million by 2030.
In response to the demographic crisis, Russia's parliament is working on a law that would ban promotion of a "child-free lifestyle" that authorities deem harmful and impose heavy fines on entities involved in the promotion.
Earlier in the year, during his State of the Union address, Putin reiterated that Russia was a bastion of “traditional values” and was in a life-and-death struggle against the “fallen West.” He repeatedly mentioned that "three children in a family should become the standard in Russia," saying that this would help protect Russia's future.
At the same time, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the death toll in Russia in the first half of the year also increased significantly year-on-year. Recent studies show that all sectors of the Russian economy are facing severe labor shortages this year.
According to a report by the Atlantic Council, more than 300,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or injured by the end of 2023; if the continued population decline cannot be reversed, the country's population may be reduced by half by the end of this century.
Oreshkin said one potential way to solve the population problem is to increase efficiency and productivity, including through automation and leveraging artificial intelligence tools.
"One of the solutions to the personnel shortage problem that Russia faces is artificial intelligence technology," he explained. He pointed out that by using artificial intelligence technology, Russia can achieve faster growth, not by increasing the number of employees, but by improving efficiency. and productivity.
Previously, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak listed the development of robotics and artificial intelligence as one of the main factors for the long-term growth of the Russian economy. He believes that these technologies should be applied to all industries, which will increase the country's labor productivity.