Kai-Fu Lee has mapped out the challenging artificial intelligence race between America and China in his book AI Superpowers. He has a diversified background working in the field for 35 years. He has interesting viewpoints from holding prominent positions in the US at Google and Apple. Lee is currently CEO/Chairman at Sinovation Ventures in China and held the position of President at Google China.
AlphaGo is a deep mind AI computer(super powered machine that runs on power, data and algorithms) acquired by Google in 2014. In 2016 AlphaGo was pitted against a legendary Korean player Lee Sedol in a 5 match game of Go. Sedol lost 4 out of 5 rounds against this machine. The game was viewed by over 280 million Chinese, yet virtually ignored by most Americans. Lee calls this China’s ‘Sputnik Moment’ because of the incredible fervor it caused. It inspired the Chinese to invest heavily in AI and to create Chuangye Dajie—Avenue of Entrepreneurs, which is China’s version of America’s Silicon Valley.
Within months of AlphaGo’s winning 4 out of 5 matches over Lee Sedol, China’s government announced entirely bold and concise plans to developing artificial intelligence. They poured massive amounts of government funding to the task. Their groundbreaking responses by 2017 had created “48 percent of all AI venture funding globally, surpassing the United States for the first time.” Their ambitious goals of leading global artificial intelligence was set in 2016 to be attained by 2030.
“What’s the big deal?”, you may ask. Computers have certainly been able to play games and win against the best human players in the past. It’s only a game…This time it’s different for two reasons:
- Go has an exponentially high number of possible moves compared to chess(more difficult).
- Almost the same reinforcement learning algorithm is applicable to many other games. This means it’s a step closer to how humans think—in a generalized, flexible manner.
Although the US and China differ in their approaches to building AI, they each have their strengths. Americans tend toward taking their time to find ‘perfect’ answers and value originality. We also pull no punches placing our technology as is into the global economy. China, on the other hand, copycats our technology constantly and adapts US solutions to their own societal needs. In 2013 China had leapfrogged over the use of credit and debit cards, going straight into pay by bar codes on cell phones, adding to China’s fast paced adaptation of technology.
Kai-Fu Lee serves up hot the rivalry between the US and China. He states 4 elements a country needs to reach AI supremacy: loads of data, ingenious entrepreneurs, skilled scientists and solid policy. However, he also believes that it is the human capability to love that surpasses any and all machine prowess. It puts humans in the power seat to face the future with prosperity. This book has to be read to fully appreciate artificial intelligence’s impact in our world.