Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

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Deep fakes, bots, synthetic learning and other applications are so realistic that it’s hard to differentiate fact from fiction. You need access to advanced machines, and the struggle between government and big business… how does a newcomer start? Power is an obvious take on the leverage that companies and nations can get from data analysis and AI.

The discussions on China's bold moves in the geopolitical arena and the potential consequences are both timely and illuminating. Models trained on multiple types of data, including images and video, may eventually “associate concepts represented in multiple formats. Lastly, hopefully this was an issue limited to the DoD Library’s copy of the audiobook on Libby, but it was one 13-hour track! The first few chapters of the book are spot on, what is AI, where did it come from, where is it going and how does one measure it - all fundamental to the subsequent chapters.The author's insights extend beyond the technical realm into the political landscape, offering a reasoned assessment of liberal vs.

Interestingly the author proposes some against the grain strategies wrt to cooperation with rather than competing against authoritarian illiberal regimes such as the CCP. It does not help, Desmond adds, that so few working people are represented by unions or that Black Americans, even those who have followed the “three rules” (graduate from high school, get a full-time job, wait until marriage to have children), are far likelier to be poor than their White compatriots.

One potential area that is under supported is the idea that the regulatory space is too onerous for ai companies to innovate. I never get the sense that he's willing to extrapolate recent progress in AI to imagine them replacing humans at jobs they're not currently capable of handling. Scharre’s work serves as an excellent invitation for both regional and interdisciplinary conversations on the role of AI in the future of power and warfare, with immediate implications for MENA states actively working to digitally transform.

He believes that “any predictions” regarding AI’s maturation “should be taken with a grain of salt,” going so far as to suggest that AI can either “peter out” or “continue to mature. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. But if now isn't the time to worry about the effects of smarter-than-human minds, when will it be time? Scharre breaks down technology’s role in global affairs into four “battlegrounds”: data, computing, talent, and institutions.

He has already covered some of this ground in his significant 2018 book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War.

Scharre ignores this scenario, probably because he sees much slower change in AI capabilities than I see. But I see restrictions on semiconductor sales to China as likely to matter more 3 to 5 years from now.Divisions in technological capacity and available resources between MENA states are substantial, but already the lens through which Four Battlegrounds presents AI is converging with regional developments. But at times, I did feel as though the author was attempting to raise general awareness of what he perceives as our biggest power rival, especially in the world of AI and augmented warfare.