AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and New World Order - A Book Review

If Artificial Intelligence (AI) is electricity of today, big data is the new oil, then China is the top producer of this petroleum. 

Illustration by The Geostrata

In AI Superpowers, the author, Kai Fu Lee, a business executive and scientist, has employed his expertise and experience in analysing the potential impact of AI driven automation, adoption, assimilation as well as systematically analyses the duopoly of the US and China, comparing the competencies and capabilities of both in this sphere. 

Drawing on a useful analogy employed by the author throughout the book, we can understand who has the edge in the AI revolution, with significant implications for global order. Consider this: electricity in the 20th century required 4 key inputs - fossil fuels, entrepreneurs, electrical engineers and supportive government policies.

China has a edge in the implementation as far as AI is concerned, Dr.Lee presents the tale of how China turned into a Saudi Arabia of real time data (oil), how copycat era produced gladiatorial and battle hardened entrepreneurs, how environment of innovation is producing AI scientists and techno-utilitarian approach of government lead to widespread support for AI development and deployment. 

While offering rich insights into how AI functions, its applications, the author differentiates between the business and of course the political culture driving China and Silicon valley innovations. This analysis presents the different approaches of innovating, adopting, assimilating the technologies and running businesses, explaining ‘why and how’ of failures of global giants in China and success of the local companies.

The book is replete with success stories of Chinese companies like Meituan Dianping, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu or innumerable AI startups like iFlyTek as well as the companies that failed, making up valuable case studies for business students or analysts. 

Also, narrated are the ideas and startups founded by the author himself along with personal anecdotes to make the book interactive and appealing to not just techno enthusiasts but to the entire gamut of readers. 

Furthermore, the superpower competition is also detailed and assessed by classifying AI revolution into 4 waves - internet AI (Google, Bytedance), business AI, perception AI and ultimately autonomous AI, noting strengths and weaknesses of each and predictions of future balance of power

Now, addressing the elephant in the room - the historically unique AI-driven crisis and the resultant doomsday predictions or cases of over optimism is carefully analysed by Dr.Lee. The wealth inequalities, job losses, monopolies inherent in the nature of AI would upend the socio-economic fabric and eventually act as gasoline in the fires of political upheavals and unrest.

One only needs to remember the ICT driven upward trajectory of productivity and relative downward spiral of wages and jobs in the US, also called the ‘great decoupling’. Distinct from great revolutions of steam engine and electricity, AI can be easily distributed around the world, thereby leading to quick adoption of the same since software ease trumps hardware frictions. When it comes to AI, speed and pace is everything. 

Here, it is important to observe that autonomous AI could disrupt the white collar jobs in the US first whereas the labour intensive factories and farms in China could buy it some time as making and employing robots on large scale will slow down the pace. 

With automation disrupting industries, questioning the Protestant ethics of work and the premise of humans deriving purpose from work as well as  economic disparities owing to concentration of astronomical wealth, expertise and talent in few hands, what does the future entail for us? 

Just as these predictions about the human future in the AI age makes you feel as if you're drowning, flailing about, the optimism and hope offered towards the climax of the book pulls you right up, with an alternate ending to the saga of humans and AI. 

There's a metamorphosis in life and book: the life of the author transforms after a cancer diagnosis, changing his perceptions about what it means to be a human and the book changes its tone from technicalities to humanism, from algorithms to psycho-social impacts of the same and humanistic solutions to address the disruptions which AI is sure to bring. 

The crucial factor separating humans from machines is ‘love’ and it's this human capacity for love and compassion which could help build a new culture and humanistic society in this brave new world of AI driven automation.

The brilliant technologist and scientist suggests rewriting the social contract of our societies, veering away from the mentality of treating humans as the optimal productivity factor to achieve ends and focusing on what makes us human, laying out a framework for symbiotic relationship between efficient AI and compassionate touch of humans. 

While offering a critique to the short term band aid or technical fixes for AI induced job losses or the complexities of deciding a universal basic income, the author proposes long term strategies by reinventing corporate social responsibility, service focused impact investing and social entrepreneurship. 

To simplify, consider this: more accessible, tailored medical interventions via AI driven diagnosis while  the doctor is a compassionate caregiver playing the role of a psychologist, a nurse and a technician free from the needs of memorising facts. Or making socially beneficial activities like caring for the sick, community service or just spending time with lonely elders as rewarding and as dignified as the economically productive activities.

Circling back to the chess game between two superpowers in AI, we could also build a shared future of prosperity with collaborative and cooperative solutions, with contributions from all to handle the destructive potential of AI. 

With the scope and potential of AI dissected here, the fundamental question that remains with the readers is - are we any closer to realising our true selves or purposes?

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BY ADITI CHOUDHARY

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