Red AI

Red AI: Victories and Warnings from China's Rise in Artificial Intelligence, Nina Xiang, Amazon Digital Services, 2019

Over the past few years, a person could be forgiven for thinking that China is about to, figuratively, take over the world in the area of artificial intelligence. According to this book, the reality is very different.

China does lead the world in the use of facial recognition software. That is because China has about one-third the number of police per capita that America has. It also helps that the average Chinese citizen is rather ambivalent or unconcerned about the possible loss of personal privacy. This is in great contrast to the huge backlash that happens in America at the mere mention of the words Facial Recognition Software.

When it comes to driverless cars, America is way ahead. There are a number of Chinese companies in this area, and China is actively building autonomous driving zones for driverless cars all over the country. Cars from Waymo (part of Google) can drive themselves over 130 times as far as cars from the Chinese company Baidu before needing human intervention. Also, at some point, those Chinese driverless cars will have to drive themselves on Chinese streets, where anything can happen. Chinese regulators have not yet given their approval.

Recently, a Chinese AI company had their system do simultaneous translation from Chinese to English at a major international conference. The results were horrible. China is able to build its own low-level computer chips, but the sophisticated, high-level chips all come from America. If that supply should ever stop, the entire Chinese AI industry would grind to a halt.

In the area of industrial robots, China has many companies involved, but they are starting from farther behind than the rest of the world. Until recently, China did not need robotics, but with an aging population, it is now a requirement.

This is a fascinating book. The author's biggest recommendation is that China must become much more self-reliant in AI. It is pretty easy to read, and is certainly up-to-the-minute. It is very much worth reading for everyone.