Chinese netizens spot AI books on president Xi Jinping’s bookshelf

Every year, China’s president Xi Jinping delivers a replacement Year’s Eve address, outlining the country’s plans for the months ahead. however Chinese netizens don’t simply listen to his words; they additionally scour the bookshelves behind Xi, analyzing the titles and authors found there to undertake and gain some insight into his mind. and also the massive additions this year? Well, 2 new texts on AI — a subject of giant interest for the Chinese government.

As rumored by The Shanghaiist (and seen via Quartz), the books on AI were Pedro Domingos’ The Master algorithmic program and Brett King’s Augmented: Life within the good Lane. each handle the potential impact of AI on society, with King’s book providing a futurist’s slightly fantastical summary on this and different technologies, whereas Domingos’ offers a a lot of grounded and sensible verify the increase of machine learning. (The Master algorithmic program is additionally one in all Bill Gates’ suggested reads on AI.)

Xi is alleged to be a voracious reader, and different books noticed on his shelf this year enclosed a growing assortment of Western classics (from War and Peace and also the recent Man and also the ocean to The Odyssey and Les Misérables), economic texts like cash Changes Everything by William N. Goetzmann and Michele Wucker’s The gray rhinoceros, and various titles on Chinese history and military strategy.

The meant message these books send is pretty clear — together with those on AI. China has known AI because the key technology it desires for rising its economy and military, and is running cash and resources into the sector. North American country consultants area unit upset that America are going to be left behind within the world AI race, particularly as President Trump moves to chop funding for basic analysis and limit immigration, reducing the pool of talent the North American country will drawn from.

Being the world leader in AI wouldn’t simply be smart for business either, with several basic cognitive process it'll go hand-in-hand with international clout. Russian president solon aforementioned the maximum amount last Sep, commenting that the country that leads in AI analysis “will become the ruler of the globe.” It looks a minimum of one different world leader thinks constant — and is busy finding out abreast of the topic.