The AI Future: Views of Two Countries

Hollywood is full of apocalyptic movies where the machines and AI takes over the world – the Terminator series is one of the best-known examples. In recent times, as machine learning algorithms get better at almost everything which seemed impossible just a few years back – recognizing faces, photos, transcribing and even translating spoken words in real-time – many people have been voicing their concerns, from Elon Musk to Bill Gates. There’s a term for it – the “singularity”. It’s the point of no return, at which technology takes over… for good.

 

On the other hand, China, which is second only to the US in all matters AI, doesn’t seem worried. In fact, tech entrepreneurs in China are optimistic that AI advances will make life better. Why the difference, asks Kai-Fu Lee in his book. For one, it’s their experience with technology so far:

“The Chinese government has long emphasized technological advances as key to China’s economic development… For the last forty years, Chinese people have watched as their country’s technological progress acted as the rising tide that lifted all boats.”

 

Sure, but can’t the Chinese see the societal risks as AI starts taking over more and more white-collar jobs, as self-driven vehicles make taxi, truck and train drivers redundant, and as AI powered robots take over jobs in manufacturing? Yes, but:

“There is a pervasive sense that the Chinese government will take care of all the displaced workers.”

What?! This belief is based on what happened during the 90’s, when China started a series of painful reforms to its bloated public sector companies. It was a brutal process that led to a large number of company closures, and associated job losses. But the country as a whole came out on a better track. More importantly, the government was able to help most of the laid off workers re-skill and find new jobs. Thus, the confidence that the government will manage the disruption that AI will cause.

 

This too then is an area of difference between the West and China – caution v/s optimism when it comes to what AI will bring.

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