‘China remains a world leader in AI’ - I think this phrase needs a little parsing. Friends in comp sci tell me that Chinese scholarship and research is often shoddy, plagiarized or just wrong. They understand the value of pr now, but are probably still way behind. (Recent New Yorker article goes into depth on the faltering economy and social realm in China as well). I’d connect the two and probably say a lot of it is for show.
I've heard similar charges. But - this is something I've been trying to track and, to be honest, struggling. I don't read Chinese, which is a big block, since little of this is translated. And trying to grasp the complex relationship between the state and business is far deeper than I thought.
Nov 9, 2023·edited Nov 9, 2023Liked by Bryan Alexander
I would highly recommend futurist Amy Webb's book on this The Big Nine (if you haven't already read it): https://amzn.to/3FRKlx2
She spent extensive time living and working in Hong Kong and China while researching technology innovation, as well as working with governments and advising them on AI initiatives, and chronicles alot of the background, research, and progress China has made (and its 3 of the "big nine" companies - Alibaba, Tencent, & Baidu). After chronicling their rise to prominence and their strategy, and contrasting it with the U.S. government's and our 6 of the "big nine" companies (IBM, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, & Facebook) discordant approaches, she paints a plausible portrait of 3 possible futures - best case, worst case, and likely case...explaining quite convincingly that which scenario we experience certainly will be determined by a combination of how we handle AI generally, corporately, & policy/legally, as well as how we respond strategically to China's efforts in this area.
They are certainly our closest competitor, but calling them a "world leader"? I think that's a huge leap. It's what China wants everyone to believe, but I don't see the evidence yet. I think there's an awful lot of bluster in their supremacy claims, but they DO have the unmitigated force of governance and citizenry to focus on whatever the supreme leader wants, whereas here in the U.S. we have to get everyone's OK to make any progress (and often cringe when a business or government leader mandates a policy).
Admittedly, Webb's book came out in 2019, so that was 4 years ago, but so far, everything I've seen since then only parallels and reinforces what she laid out.
‘China remains a world leader in AI’ - I think this phrase needs a little parsing. Friends in comp sci tell me that Chinese scholarship and research is often shoddy, plagiarized or just wrong. They understand the value of pr now, but are probably still way behind. (Recent New Yorker article goes into depth on the faltering economy and social realm in China as well). I’d connect the two and probably say a lot of it is for show.
I've heard similar charges. But - this is something I've been trying to track and, to be honest, struggling. I don't read Chinese, which is a big block, since little of this is translated. And trying to grasp the complex relationship between the state and business is far deeper than I thought.
Yet is any other nation at their level?
I would highly recommend futurist Amy Webb's book on this The Big Nine (if you haven't already read it): https://amzn.to/3FRKlx2
She spent extensive time living and working in Hong Kong and China while researching technology innovation, as well as working with governments and advising them on AI initiatives, and chronicles alot of the background, research, and progress China has made (and its 3 of the "big nine" companies - Alibaba, Tencent, & Baidu). After chronicling their rise to prominence and their strategy, and contrasting it with the U.S. government's and our 6 of the "big nine" companies (IBM, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, & Facebook) discordant approaches, she paints a plausible portrait of 3 possible futures - best case, worst case, and likely case...explaining quite convincingly that which scenario we experience certainly will be determined by a combination of how we handle AI generally, corporately, & policy/legally, as well as how we respond strategically to China's efforts in this area.
They are certainly our closest competitor, but calling them a "world leader"? I think that's a huge leap. It's what China wants everyone to believe, but I don't see the evidence yet. I think there's an awful lot of bluster in their supremacy claims, but they DO have the unmitigated force of governance and citizenry to focus on whatever the supreme leader wants, whereas here in the U.S. we have to get everyone's OK to make any progress (and often cringe when a business or government leader mandates a policy).
Admittedly, Webb's book came out in 2019, so that was 4 years ago, but so far, everything I've seen since then only parallels and reinforces what she laid out.
Oh, good thought. I like Amy a lot and have this book on The Stack (TM). Thank you.