” AI 2041: Ten Visions For Our Future” (Currency, 2021), an interesting brand-new sci-fi anthology, ushers us into this brave brand-new world of digital enlightenment on a more upbeat note. Its 480 pages provide a collection of intriguing tales explaining how artificial intelligence may touch our lives and loves 20 years from today.Written by previous president of Google China, Kai-Fu Lee (” AI Superpowers”), in partnership with well-known sci-fi author Chen Qiufan (” Waste Tide”), “AI 2041” acts as a positive guide towards an uncertain tomorrow in which next-gen tech blends with society and industry. In the case of AI, the externalities of misuse, the amplification of the bias in the data sets, and the unexplainability and incomprehensibility of the innovation itself, will all lead to the negative response and creativity from the mass.Space.com: What particular aspects of sophisticated AI are you most thrilled about?Qiufan: Firstly, AI can predict a lot of things based on the existing dataset, such as protein structures, wildfire hot areas, mapping the brain connectomes, etc. We chose to blend the futuristic story together with the solid analysis and explanation to assist people comprehend why and how AI is supposed to be developed as an assistant rather than terminator.Space.com: Is there one tale in this collection that finest reveals your hopes for AIs future?Qiufan: All of them show a little bit of dreams and hopes.”Nayanas parents glanced at each other for a second then burst out laughing.Excerpted from “AI 2041″ by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan Copyright © 2021 by Kai-Fu Lee.
” AI 2041: Ten Visions For Our Future” (Currency, 2021), an interesting brand-new sci-fi anthology, ushers us into this brave brand-new world of digital enlightenment on a more positive note. Its 480 pages deliver a collection of intriguing tales explaining how artificial intelligence may touch our lives and loves 20 years from today.Written by former president of Google China, Kai-Fu Lee (” AI Superpowers”), in partnership with acclaimed sci-fi author Chen Qiufan (” Waste Tide”), “AI 2041” acts as an optimistic guide toward an unsure tomorrow in which next-gen tech melds with society and industry.
AI 2041: 10 Visions For Our Future|$25.49 from Amazon
In this provocative, entirely original work, Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, partner with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to picture our world in 2041 and how it will be formed by AI.View Deal
According to a Currency statement, AI will end up being the specifying societal advancement of the 21st century. The authors assume that within 2 decades, many aspects of everyday human life will be completely unrecognizable. AI will spawn unmatched wealth, reinvent medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create fresh forms of communication, weaponry and entertainment.Space.com connected with Qiufan to get more information about humankinds wariness of AI and how its introduction will challenge the organizing concepts of financial and social structure. This interview has actually been edited for length and clarity.Space.com: Why do people have such mistrust of AI and where did the anxiety originate?Chen Qiufan: I think the root of this fear or anxiety comes from the false imagination of the others, a projection of hostility, an apprehension of the unknown. It has actually appeared numerous times in history: the Crusades, the Age of Sail, the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, 9/11, and so on. In the case of AI, the externalities of abuse, the amplification of the predisposition in the data sets, and the unexplainability and incomprehensibility of the technology itself, will all lead to the unfavorable action and imagination from the mass.Space.com: What particular elements of innovative AI are you most ecstatic about?Qiufan: Firstly, AI can anticipate a lot of things based upon the existing dataset, such as protein structures, wildfire locations, mapping the brain connectomes, etc. It will fundamentally alter the way of existing science research and experiment. Its definitely a paradigm shift. Second of all, if we are able to discover a way to teach AI to find out utilizing little information, just as the human brain does, instead of endlessly scaling up the information and computation power, I think it may be the course resulting in AGI [ Artificial General Intelligence], and naturally, more sustainable for our environment. Last but not least, I am actually thrilled about how AI could assist to expose some essential concepts and patterns in sociology, psychology, archaeology and more humanities disciplines. It will assist us better comprehend ourselves as a civilization and as a species.Space.com: How does “AI 2041s” union of visionary storytelling and informative summaries finest present this prompt topic?Qiufan: I believe Ive seen adequate dystopian futures in sci-fi across different mediums. No matter how close they show and think of reality. Both Kai-Fu [Lee] and I felt that there is urgency to deliver a far more possible and positive picture of the future. We must initially find out to imagine it due to the fact that if we desire to create a future we live in. Thats how mankind develops consensus and convergence. So we chose to blend the futuristic narrative together with the solid analysis and description to assist individuals comprehend why and how AI is supposed to be produced as an assistant rather than terminator.Space.com: Is there one tale in this collection that best exposes your hopes for AIs future?Qiufan: All of them show a bit of hopes and dreams. However particularly, I will say that the last story, “Dreaming of Plenitude,” will be the most optimistic one. It pictures a future society which, with the aid of AI, currently reaches carbon neutrality utilizing an abundance of green energy. Individuals are living in the post-scarcity status, no more hunger and poverty, with the reward of virtual currency not based upon home but esteem, love, belonging and self-actualization. I understand it sounds like “Star Trek” and may not occur any earlier in the future. However I believe we still need to hold on to those type of high hopes and to develop much better technologies and societies for all humanity, not just for the super-rich or privileged class.Heres an excerpt from Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufans “AI 2041: Ten Visions For Our Future.”Chapter One: The Golden ElephantStory translated by Blake Stone-BanksIt is much better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to mimic someone elses completely.– Bhagavad Gita (भगवद्गीता, Song of God or Hindu Scripture) chapter 3, verse 35Note from Kai-Fu: The opening story takes readers to Mumbai, where we fulfill a household who has registered for a deep-learning-enabled insurance coverage program. This vibrant insurance coverage program engages with the guaranteed in the form of a series of apps meant to better their lives. The households teenage daughter, nevertheless, finds that the AI programs persuasive pushes complicate her search for love. “The Golden Elephant” presents the basics of AI and deep learning, offering a sense of its primary strengths and weak points. In specific, the story highlights how AI can single-mindedly attempt to enhance specific objectives, however in some cases produce destructive externalities. The story also recommends the threats when one business possesses so much data from its users. On the screen, the three-story statue of Ganesh swayed in the surf of Chowpatty Beach as though synced to the sitar soundtrack. With each wave, the towering idol came down lower until it was swallowed up by the Arabian Sea. In the salty salt water, the statue dissolved into gold and burgundy foam, cleaning onto Chowpatty Beach, where the colors clung like true blessings to the legions of followers who had collected for the Visarjan immersion ritual celebrating completion of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.In her familys Mumbai house, Nayana watched as her grandparents clapped their hands and sang along to the television. Her younger sibling, Rohan, took a mouthful of cassava chips and a deep swig from his diet soda. He was just eight, Rohan was under doctors orders to strictly manage his fat and sugar intake. As he wagged his head in enjoyment, crumbs sprayed from his mouth and flew throughout the flooring. In the cooking area, Papa Sanjay and Mama Riya banged on pots and crooned like they were in a Bollywood film.Nayana tried to shut them all out of her mind. The tenth-grader was rather focusing all her energy on her smartstream, where she had downloaded FateLeaf. The brand-new app was all Nayanas schoolmates might appear to discuss recently. It was said to have the answer to practically any question, thanks to the prescience of Indias biggest fortune tellers.The app– its branding and advertising campaign made clear– was motivated by the Hindu sage Agastya, who was said to have actually inscribed the past, present, and future lives of all people in Sanskrit onto palm leaves, so-called Nadi leaves, thousands of years ago.According to the legend, simply by providing ones thumbprints and birthdate to a Nadi leaf fortune teller, an individual might have their life story foretold from the corresponding leaf. The problem was that numerous leaves had actually been lost to meddling colonialists, war, and time. In 2025, a tech business located and scanned all the recognized Nadi leaves still in blood circulation. The company utilized AI to perform deep knowing, auto-translation, and analysis of the remaining leaves. The outcome was the creation of virtual Nadi leaves, saved in the cloud– one for each of the 8.7 billion individuals on Earth.Nayana was not dwelling on the ancient history of the Nadi leaves. She had a more pressing matter on her mind. Users of the FateLeaf app could look for to discover the knowledge of their Nadi leaf by posturing various concerns. While her household watched the Ganesh Visarjan event on TV, Nayana nervously typed out a question within the app: “Does Sahej like me?” Prior to she clicked “Send,” an alert popped up showing that an answer to her concern would cost two hundred rupees. Nayana clicked “Submit.”Nayana had liked Sahej from the minute his stream initially connected in their virtual class. Her brand-new classmate didnt utilize any filter or AR background. Behind Sahej, holding on the wall, Nayana might see rows of colorful masks, which, she learned, Sahej had actually sculpted and painted himself. On the first day of the brand-new term, the instructor had asked Sahej about the masks, and the brand-new student shyly offered a show-and-tell, describing how the masks integrated Indian gods and spirits with the powers of superheroes.Now, in an invitation-only room on her ShareChat, a few of Nayanas classmates were gossiping about Sahej. From the method his space was provided to the fact that his surname was hidden from public view in school records, these ladies were particular Sahej was among the “susceptible group” that the federal government mandated make up at least 15% of their student body. At independent schools across India, such children were virtually ensured spots and their tuition, books, and uniforms were covered by scholarships. “Fifteen percent” and “vulnerable group” were euphemisms for the Dalits.From documentaries she had watched online, Nayana learnt about Indias old caste system, which was deeply ingrained in Hindu cultural and spiritual beliefs. An individuals caste had as soon as figured out ones occupation, education, spouse– their whole life. At the bottom called of this system were the Dalits, or, as they were sometimes referred to with derision, “untouchables.” For generations, members of this community were forced to do the dirtiest jobs: cleaning sewage systems, managing the remains of dead animals, and tanning leather.The constitution of India, validated in 1950, outlawed discrimination based on caste. For years following independence, Dalit locations for drinking, dining, residing, and even burial were kept separate from those of groups thought about greater in the system. Members of the higher castes might even decline to be in the exact same room as the Dalits, even if they were classmates or colleagues.In the 2010s, the Indian federal government sought to correct these oppressions by developing a 15% quota for Dalit representation in government positions and in schools. The well-intentioned policy had stimulated debate and even violence. Higher-caste parents complained that such admissions werent based upon scholastic efficiency. They argued that their kids were paying the cost for previous generations sins which India was simply trading one kind of inequality for another.Despite these pockets of reaction, the governments efforts seemed to be working. The 200 million descendants of Dalits were integrating into mainstream society. It had actually ended up being harder to acknowledge their previous identity at a glance.The girls in Nayanas ShareChat couldnt stop speaking about the new young boy in school, Sahej, debating his background– however also whether they would consider going out with him.You shallow snobs, Nayana quietly huffed.For her part, Nayana saw in Sahej a kindred artistic spirit. Influenced by Bharti Kher, Nayana imagined becoming an efficiency artist, and she typically had to describe that this was absolutely nothing like being a superficial pop performer. She thought great artists had to be brutally truthful about their inner sensations and must never accept the viewpoints of others. If she liked Sahej, then she liked Sahej– no matter his household background, where he lived, or even his Tamil-accented Hindi.The concern Nayana had actually posed to the FateLeaf app seemed to take forever to procedure. A notice popped up on Nayanas smartstream accompanied by a palm leaf icon: “What a pity! Due to insufficient information provided, FateLeaf can not currently address your query.”The clink of Nayanas refund vibrated from her smartstream.”Insufficient information!” Nayana quietly cursed at the app.Annoyed, she finally raised her head from her screen to see her mother, Riya, putting the ending up discuss dinner. Something was off. In addition to a number of Indian vacation thrills, Nayana saw a number of super-expensive meals from a Chinese delivery place on the table. Such deals with were uncommon for her penny-pinching father. There was something even more unusual: Riya was wearing her favorite pure silk Parsi-style sari. She had her hair up and was wearing a complete set of jewelry. Even Nayanas grandparents appeared various– better than normal– and for when, her fat sibling, Rohan, wasnt plaguing her with all type of foolish questions.The Ganesh Chaturthi celebration couldnt explain all this.”So, is anybody going to tell me whats going on?” Nayana stated as she gazed at the spread on the table.”What do you suggest, whats going on?” Riya shot back.”Am I the only one who thinks all this is a bit unusual?”Nayanas parents glanced at each other for a 2nd then rupture out laughing.Excerpted from “AI 2041” by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan Copyright © 2021 by Kai-Fu Lee. Excerpted by approval of Currency, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.