Artificial Intelligence

Rise of the Lightspeed Learners

By: Charles Jennings

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eText | 8 May 2019 | Edition Number 1

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Self-learning machines called AIs are popping up all around us. They’re real, and really important. They’re affecting our lives—as workers, consumers, investors, citizens, patients and students. AIs bring huge promise, but also existential risk. The biggest risk isn’t killer robots—it’s the renegade leaders, despots, and unrestrained hackers everywhere we should worry about.

Charles Jennings’ insightful new book, Artificial Intelligence: The Rise of the Lightspeed Learners presents sides of AI most people have never even considered before. That surprises are a main product of AIs. That AI cybersecurity is much more critical than traditional IT security. That, as Vladimir Putin put it, “the country that leads in AI will control the world.” Jennings blends insights into Silicon Valley, Washington D.C., and Beijing with insider AI stories, irreverent humor and strong opinions. He explores the global AI ecosystem from Cambridge to Beijing; and provides a stark assessment of AI activity in China—where he lived for two years working with senior government officials. He claims that the U.S. and China are in an AI horserace that will be the most important technology contest ever, with the outcome still very much in doubt.

Consisting of stories, musings, interviews, and more, it provides a timely and accessible explanation of AI and its key issues to the general reading public.

Industry Reviews

Artificial intelligence allows computers to outplay grandmasters in chess and Go, make stock-trading decisions, and operate self-driving cars, performing these tasks far faster than even the speediest human. Jennings, a prominent tech entrepreneur and no stranger to disruptive technologies, predicts that AI will shape the future. Looking at the projected shifts that could take place by mid-century, he warns readers that the U.S. is unprepared for the imminent transformation. 'The fact that the United States still, late into the second decade of the twenty-first century, has no national plan for AI is both remarkable and negligent.' With Canada and China investing heavily in AI, the U.S. is still in a position to take the lead with the right investments, but the gap is widening fast. To better prepare, he advocates for every American to learn about superpowerful AI, which could soon be controlling our phones, guiding us through taxes and laws, and changing the way we learn and work. With ardent urgency, Jennings explains how AIs have the potential to remake the world, and what we should be doing to prepare.