China has set a target for its’ artificial intelligence and AI related industry to be worth Eleven trillion renminbi by 2030. That’s about $2.41 trillion AUD, far larger than our entire economy. This is a key part of Beijing’s plan to refashion its image as a cheap goods manufacturer and comes off the back of Xi Jinping’s mention of AI in his opening address to the Communist Party Congress last year.

Speaking to us about this today is Michael Milford, a robotics professor at the Queensland University of Technology.