AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

by Kai-Fu Lee

AlphaGo

deep learning,

Machine learning—the

“rule-based” approach

“neural networks” approach.

“neural networks”

neural networks generally do not give the networks rules to follow in making decisions.

require large amounts of two things: computing power and data.

“deep learning”—could

Deep learning is what’s known as “narrow AI”—intelligence that takes data from one specific domain and applies it to optimizing one specific outcome. While impressive, it is still a far cry from “general AI,” the all-purpose technology that can do everything a human can.

That global shift is the product of two transitions: from the age of discovery to the age of implementation, and from the age of expertise to the age of data.

THE AGE OF IMPLEMENTATION

Much of the difficult but abstract work of AI research has been done, and it’s now time for entrepreneurs to roll up their sleeves and get down to the dirty work of turning algorithms into sustainable businesses.

Today, successful AI algorithms need three things: big data, computing power, and the work of strong—but not necessarily elite—AI algorithm engineers.

They represented a tidal wave of online-to-offline (O2O) startups that brought the convenience of e-commerce to bear on real-world services like restaurant food or manicures.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates AI deployment will add $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030. China is predicted to take home $7 trillion of that total, nearly double North America’s $3.7 trillion in gains. As the economic balance of power tilts in China’s favor, so too will political influence and “soft power,” the

technically be able to replace around 40 to 50 percent of jobs in the United States.

the virtuous cycle of data-driven improvements is widening

The AI world order will combine winner-take-all economics with an unprecedented concentration of wealth in the hands of a few companies in China and the United States. This, I believe, is the real underlying threat posed by artificial intelligence: tremendous social disorder and political collapse stemming from widespread unemployment and gaping inequality.

Combine these three currents—a cultural acceptance of copying, a scarcity mentality, and the willingness to dive into any promising new industry—and you have the psychological foundations of China’s internet ecosystem.