Taiwan must harness tech to ease impact of rapid societal aging: NDC

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) With nearly half of its population expected to be over the age of 65 by 2070, Taiwan's economy faces major challenges that it will need to address by using AI and other technologies, an official at the National Development Council (NDC) said Wednesday.

Taiwan, like many other high-earning countries, is facing the effects of, and transformation by, a declining population and aging society, NDC Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) said at a conference hosted by Academia Sinica.

"Taiwan is on track to become a super-aged society by 2025, with 20 percent of its population aged 65 or above," Kao said.

"After that, societal aging, driven by the low birth rate, will only become faster," she said.

By 2070, an estimated 46.5 percent of people in Taiwan will be aged 65 or above, second only to South Korea (47.5 percent), and well above Japan (38.7 percent), Italy (33.8 percent), Germany (28.8 percent) and the United States (26.3 percent), according to Kao.

That means that by 2070, Taiwan's working age cohort will constitute less than 50 percent of the population, which is a "major warning sign" for the country's ability to maintain a labor force and industrial development, Kao said.

Despite these challenges, Kao said, research has shown that countries whose governments have a high level of AI-readiness experience higher GDP growth.

As the "new era" of generative AI begins, the number of people who use AI will gradually eclipse those who do not, while companies that use AI will become more competitive than those that do not, Kao said.

The NDC deputy also appeared to argue that AI would serve as an alternative to mass immigration for countries with declining populations.

"Only by having the ability to develop AI and large language models will countries be able to maintain their own languages and cultures," she said.

Kao predicted that in the coming years, countries will launch large-scale efforts to enhance their AI competitiveness, train their populations, and even build "sovereign data centers."

As a center for AI development, Taiwan will have an edge as it looks to implement AI in its various industries, allowing it to "break through" some of the limits imposed by an aging society and declining population, she said.

The NDC, which functions as the Cabinet's policy-planning agency, released its latest biennial report on Taiwan's population trends in October. It is expected to propose a range of response measures in February, according to Kao.