AI Superpowers - Book Summary
Ai Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World (Kai-Fu Lee)
Summary, Notes & Highlights
I learned how artificial intelligence will let us rethink our society, our lives, and the way we work. Reconsidering what it means to be human. Because of the massive and rapid transformations in every aspect of our daily lives
With more efficiency and robots doing our jobs, comes more time. Then is where we will see that AI create completely new jobs rapidly e.g. Season decorator for your closet. Industries will grow into a more Plattform based scenario where efficiency and fewer workers are need. This will push people to a more service-centred jobs with low pay
1. What is Narrow AI and Broad AI?
Narrow AI: what we are use today (2020) AI solves problems and find solutions to given tasks e.g. better shopping experience
Broad AI: Human like. With conscious, feelings
2. 4 Types of AI
Internet & Business AI is already around us in our daily lives. replacing paralegal with algorithm, trading stocks, diagnose illnesses
Internet AI
Leverage the fact that Internet users automatically labeling data as they browse. Which shopping item they likely to buy, purchase history etc. These data is used to define better costumer profile and more personalised shopping.
Business AI
Businesses gathering and labeling data for decades. e.g. Insurance Company - data on clients, insurance rate, how many accidence etc. But there is problem to make this data even more useful. A Human might look a strong features to predict an outcome, AI can recognise 1000 small features that no human can and make an even precise decision
Micro Lending Smart Finance an App that predicts if some worthy of an loan just by an algorithm. AI looks not just how much is in you WeChat balance account but thousands of other data points. These data points might not be relevant for the human eye or understandable but makes huge difference if some i paying back that loan
Medical Diagnoses: Gather all the relevant information from a patient and provide a diagnoses. Take over the whole doctors process
Law: Speech recognition & Natural languages processing compares all evidence presented and seek patters to advice judges.
Perception AI
Online and offline world blends together, with endless contact points to go „online“. e.g. with speech, face recognition. Ording food from the couch with your voice. Is this Online or offline?
Example Education/School one teacher teaches via video to different classrooms. Kids get monitored on their success, failure and behavior. AI Analyse this data to better understand where kids fail or need help with. This enables to improve kids skills where their lack, empowers them at what their are great at and develop these skills further. A more tailored education is possible. Away from the standard „everyone fits all“ education system
Autonomes AI
Autonomous systems are defined as systems that are able to accomplish a task, achieve a goal, or interact with its surroundings with minimal to no human involvement. It is also essential that these systems be able to predict, plan, and be aware of the world around them
Its not just machines that understands their world around them, they shape it.
Example: Best used cases are Business processes that are today highly automated, like farming, Warehouse productions.
💡 If we give an AI sight, sense touch, ability for optimise from data this will dramatically increase the number of task they can handle Example Drones while paint your house or handles fire far more efficient then every human
3. How we prevent Robots from replacing us all - Human approch to AI
With the rise of AI only a few companies, people will benefit massively while others not. But in the long-run their dig their own grave. AI has the opportunity to change our society for the better, but this needs tremendous efforts from government, law makers, companies and every human. Social Entrepreneurs has to transform, instead of using it as a fancy title, they deeply have care about the environment, our society, equality.
The only chance to keep our society alive and prosper for all. We need to ask ourselves what is it what makes us human? And double down on those skills. We should not think in numbers, money, scalability.
💡 AI should be Symbioses between Humans and Machines - AI handles routine optimisation tasks, humans bring the creative and compassionate touch. Team up to create highly efficient and humanised workplaces
Example: Healthcare - It doesn't matter how effective an hospital diagnoses is, patients don't want to be treated by a machine. A more human approach is Doctors become "compassionate-care givers". They combine the skills of a nurse, medical technician, social worker, physiologist. They will be trained not just in operating and understanding the diagnoses. But also in communication with patients, consoling them in times of trauma and emotional supporting throughout their treatment. Instead of just informing the patient of the chances of survival
4. Why Life long learning will fail Education
As AI changes many industries, it will lead to more and easy to access educational content. Will help people to shift careers faster to keep up with the demand of new career paths. But with AI rapid disruption and change in every industry its impossible for people to keep up. People could find themselves change jobs every year to keep up with the pace.
5. Downside of AI - Inequality, Monopoly
AI will repeat his nonstop-cycle of more data, less workers, cheaper productions costs, better products, more customers. This leads to monopolies companies like google for search or amazon for e-commerce but at a much bigger scale. This will economies who can implement AI systems thrive and set others countries to the stone age. Further this leads to Inequality because people who can capitalise on AI will thrive and left behind (1% of the 99%)
The Market are ineffective to correct itself, like it normally does, because AI has no rules or governance
6. Job loss and the Meaning of Life
Estimation: AI will replace 40-50% of the the US workforce 2031-2036
A job gives people meaning. With AI disrupting and wipe out whole industries. People loss their meaning of life. Because a machine can all the work for them even better
To stay on top of the AI and machines is to love and relationships. We need to ask ourselves what is it what makes us human? Focus on connecting with people and spend time with people we care about. We should live side by side with machines instead of fighting them
The Author shared a personal story. He dedicated his life to AI research, wrote several books, got hired by the top companies world wide. He spend just enough time with family so he can go back to work. After he got diagnosed with cancer he shifted that focus to connect more with his family, kids. The key to survive in this AI world is to be focus on what makes us human and to live side by side with the machines
7. The real power of autonomius vehicles
Autonomous vehicles Need millions and billions of miles driven to collect massive data. This data is fead into an AI who gathers information. Autonomous AI learn from every device that’s connected to. That’s the real power. Example: Tesla auto pilot. Every car that’s on the road learns with every mile that is driven with any Tesla world wide
8. Disruption of chip makers - Evolution AI
Horizon robotics, Bitmain Chinese companies are tailor maid for AI used cases. They are massively funded by venture capital and support by the government to outrun the best AI process power/chip companies like Nvidia.
Intel produces the first powerful chips but lacked the battery power. ARM chips can providing low battery power for the rise of mobile smartphones. Qualcomm one of the leaders of ARM Chips are struggling to adapt to AI challenges, analysis massive data in seconds. This where Nvidia a GPU Gaming Company comes in and is Perfect for this AI application use cases
Amazon, Google, Alibaba building AI Cloud Platforms so every company can use its power without build larger data sets while their collecting the fees
9. Startup Scene: Chine vs Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley: Start-up scene is Mission driven. Highly educated people with money want to make a dent in the universe. Copying other ideas is not ethical. Everyone wants to have a unique idea and change the world with it
China: Start-up scene is highly money driven and competitive. Because of the Chinese culture and poor economic growth in the last decades people do everything to survive. This build highly competitive businesses and entrepreneurs. Making 100% exact copies of businesses and ideas is normal. When someone copies your idea you have to strike harder back and "go to war". this "gladiators environment" creates highly adaptive entrepreneurs and businesses with almost no moral code. They experiment at a rapid pace and due to the highly competitive behavior the adapt fast. This what entrepreneurs and business need to grow and win the Race to AI
10. Why China wins the race to AI & Machine Learning
In the next decade China will be a major AI Player. Because they have the massive data an AI needs. The social acceptance of robots, tech, Ai, less privacy gives them an even great advantage.
To reach the full potential of AI/Machine learning you need massive data. But not just that you need "feed" the algorithm actual useful data from humans to recognize their patterns and behaviours. China with their poor living standards they don't waste their time on ethics and researching, they need to survive. The USA concentrates on breakthrough AI technologies but lacks the broad implementation to real life problems.
China implement the AI today with apps like WeChat and has real local data from humans. Where they shop, what they are buying, which area their live in, where the go to work etc. not just Data how long you are online, how long you stayed on a website or watched an ad. This environment is the reason why China has huge advantage with AI/Machine learning.
💡 WeChat, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, has more than a billion monthly users (2020) But it offers so much more than messaging, allowing its users to do everything from payments to the ability to book flights and hotels, loans, get taxis, buy a house, pay taxes and more