AI Superpowers by Kai-Fu Lee

AI SUPERPOWERS by Kai-Fu Lee is a commentary on the competition between America and China to dominate the field of artificial intelligence. Lee, a former president of Google China, is a well-regarded expert in this area and he argues that four main building blocks are required for creating an AI Superpower in the 21st century: “abundant data, tenacious entrepreneurs, well-trained AI scientists, and a supportive policy environment.”  He begins with references to this competition as the new space race, noting China’s “Sputnik moment” when an Western algorithm beat the world’s best player of Go. Subsequent sections speculate on the economic impact of AI and discuss how “the real action today is with the tinkerers,” i.e., the many scientists and implementers of AI theory.

In his introduction, Lee says, “My hope is that this book sheds some light in how we got here, and also inspires new conversations about where we go from here.” Certainly, I could see many connections for our students, particularly ones researching this topic for Junior Theme and those in business classes.  Lee’s comments about street smart and ruthless entrepreneurs prompted me to think of a number of questions about AI ethics in the future, not unlike some voiced recently in “Internet Hacking is about to get Much Worse” from The New York Times or “Will Governments Turn our Smart Devices into a Massive Surveillance Network?” from Forbes.  Look for a copy of AI SUPERPOWERS on our shelves soon.