What Defines the AI Era?

Is it data? Algorithms? Computing power? While these elements are essential, they are not the true core of the AI era. The real game-changer is decision quality.

AI has transitioned from the lab to the real world not just because it can process vast amounts of data or execute complex calculations, but because it has fundamentally improved the way decisions are made. This leap in decision-making capability is what’s reshaping industries, transforming our daily lives, and defining the future of technology.

Go Battle: The Pinnacle of AI Decision-Making

Remember the Go* match that shocked the world in 2016? AlphaGo played against the top human player Lee Sedol. Since then, no human has ever defeated AI in the world of Go. AlphaGo’s victory is not accidental. Every move it made was a carefully calculated decision. Unlike human players, who rely on intuition, experience, and real-time judgment, AI evaluates countless possibilities, predicting dozens — or even hundreds — of moves ahead. This duel was more than the victory or defeat of a Go game; it marked a revolution in decision-making itself.

*Go, an ancient Chinese strategy game is played with black and white stones, where the player who controls the most territory wins. Known as the “King of Board Games,” it embodies art, wisdom, and deep philosophy.

Autonomous Driving: AI Decision-Making in the Real World

The improvement in the quality of AI decision-making is not only reflected on the chessboard but also in our daily lives. Autonomous driving is one of the best examples.

What is the core of autonomous driving? It is the perfect fusion of perception and decision-making.

The limitations of human driving: Humans rely on our eyes to navigate the road, but our field of vision is limited and blind spots are unavoidable. We use our ears to detect sounds, yet distractions — music, conversations, or outside noise — often distract us. More critically, human learning is finite. Once we learn to drive, few of us refine our driving skills further. Fatigue, stress, and emotions like road rage further increase accident risks.

Advantages of AI driving: In contrast, AI-driven cars are equipped with multiple cameras, radars and sensors that provide a 360-degree view of the surrounding environment without blind spots. AI doesn’t get distracted, fatigued, or emotional. Unlike humans, it learns and optimizes continuously, adapting to complex road conditions, and improving safety over time. Eventually, AI-driven cars will surpass human drivers in reliability and efficiency.

From the strategic brilliance of Go to the precision of autonomous vehicles, AI is changing the way the world works with more efficient and accurate decisions. AI is transforming decision-making across every domain. As AI systems become more advanced, making faster and more accurate choices than ever before, they are redefining how the world operates. 

As AI decision-making seeps into every corner of life, the real question is: How can we find our place in this wave? In this AI-driven revolution, are you ready?

Special Notes

Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege of working with founders, investors, and technical teams from technology companies worldwide, particularly in China, the United States, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and beyond. Given the diverse national and cultural backgrounds, misunderstandings are sometimes inevitable, especially when it comes to perceptions of China.

To bridge this gap, starting this year, I have decided to regularly share insights from thought leaders in China’s tech industry, offering cutting-edge perspectives and unique viewpoints.

My aim is to foster deeper mutual understanding and break down unnecessary barriers. After all, in an era of rapid AI advancements, humanity must work together to navigate the complexities of intelligent technologies and jointly build a brighter future.

Liang Ning Introduction

The above content is compiled based on Liang Ning’s understanding of the AI era.

Liang Ning is an outstanding business thinker in China’s technology field. In her 20s, she worked with Academician Ni Guangnan to develop China’s domestic chips and operating systems. Later, she founded a well-known outdoor travel portal, Green Man. After the website was acquired by Tencent, she served as Tencent’s product manager. After leaving in 2014, she focused on in-depth research of enterprises.

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Recently, the global media has been flooded with talk of the threat of artificial intelligence. A Google search for “AI threats” turned up more than 270 million related contents in 34 seconds.

American economist Robert Solow once said, “People always overestimate the short-term benefits brought by a technology but underestimate its long-term impact.” Here I use a story “No Touch Love” to discuss about the long-term impact of AI empowerment on humanity.

Story: No Touch Love

The story takes place in 2042, in the post-coronavirus era, people have to learn coexist with viruses. Chinese “fist-holding salute “has become an internationally popular etiquette because it does not require physical contact.

Chinese “fist-holding salute” 

In that era, many people barely left their homes, and all their daily living could be met by unmanned express delivery and household robots. Some people no longer pursue full-time jobs but live a satisfying life by accepting part-time jobs such as designing skins and props for VR games. For example, the heroine in the story — Chen Nan.

Chen Nan, who is based in Singapore, witnessed the death of her grandfather, grandmother and both parents during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused mental trauma and suffered from a phobia that isolated herself from the world.

Despite this, Chen Nan still longs to be loved. She fell in love with a young man from Brazil, Garcia, online, a kind of contactless spiritual love. Whenever Garcia asked to meet offline, Chen Nan refused again and again because she was extremely afraid of being intimate with her lover.

To help his loved one to overcome her fears and prove that even huge culture differences cannot stop the love between them, Garcia even registered a virtual avatar that replicates 100% of his own image, down to his poles and scars. He put his AI-powered avatar into a Singaporean city simulator and lives his life like an ordinary Singaporean. He was proficient in using various local applications and complying with local regulations and guidelines. However, when he again requested to meet Chen Nan offline, he was still rejected.

AI 2041

The story ends here. If you are interested in how Garcia uses various AI applications to win Chen Nan, you can read the book “AI 2041”co-authored by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan.

Kai-Fu Lee is the founder of Innovation Factory, which Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence in 2023. Chen Qiufan is a sci-fi author, screenwriter, translator, and curator who was nominated for the second Sanlian Humanities City Award in 2023.

AI Technology that Makes People’s Lives Easier

Bio-Sensitive Film

In the future, we no longer need to always carry a variety of physiological data monitoring instruments. We only need a thin bio-sensing film. This kind of film, which is attached to the inside of the wrist, can display various physiological data in real time (including whether the vaccine in the body is effective), and it is a Digital Health Profile (DHP) certified by the national medical institution.

Digital Medical Records

Birth, old age, sickness and death are inevitable experiences in life. Digital medical records will greatly improve the efficiency of communication between doctors and patients, as well as the effectiveness of disease diagnosis and treatment. In the future, our biochemical data will be collected through various sensors.

For example, bio-sensor film can obtain body temperature, heart rate, bioelectricity, and other parameters. Micro-sensors enter the body in the form of capsules, and can perform blood testing, cell sampling, and monitoring tumor markers, without the need of invasive operations. Even human excrement can be analyzed for its composition through the smart toilets.

In addition, all data will be transmitted to the cloud and reports will be automatically generated by the medical AI, and the transmission process will be encrypted to prevent theft by criminals.

Will Artificial Intelligence Threaten Human Existence

As artificial intelligence becomes more and more powerful, we can’t help but wonder: Will AI pose a threat to human existence?

There are ongoing debates about this in the philosophical community, but it is broadly believed that if AI has self-awareness, then the end of mankind will not be far away. The definition of self-awareness varies. However, it has the following characteristics that are unanimously agreed:

（1）Able to describe the surrounding environment and things through language, and make corresponding evaluations.

（2）The ability to reflect on oneself.

Once artificial intelligence has self-awareness, it means that it can think independently, understand the meta-theorems and meta-rules of things, and is no longer bound by the rules and definitions of the human world.

On the one hand, we are looking forward to the various conveniences brought by the continuous enhancement of AI functions, such as smart homes, smart robots, smart transportation and so on, but on the other hand, we are worried that the singularity of AI with self-awareness is approaching.

When discussing the future of artificial intelligence, although it is full of uncertainties and challenges, we can remain optimistic, face it with an open mind, look at the situation with a smile. There is no need to overthink, and what should come will come naturally.

The original article comes from Mans International website

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2024年春节已经结束，我们正式迎来了甲辰龙年，您对这一年有什么期待呢？我们的老祖宗很有智慧，把龙塑造成充满力量和智慧的吉祥物。

最近，全球媒体充斥着有关人工智能威胁的言论。在谷歌搜索“人工智能威胁”，仅仅在34秒钟内就找到了2.7亿多个相关内容。

在谷歌搜索“人工智能威胁”结果显示

美国经济学家罗伯特·索洛（Robert Solow）曾经说过：“人们总是高估一项科技所带来的短期效益，却又低估它的长期影响。” 或许我们可以向老祖宗学习，从积极的角度来看待功能比人类更强大的人工智能。在这里借《无接触之爱》这个故事来展望一下 AI 赋能对人类的长期影响。

《无接触之爱》

故事发生在2042年，后新冠时代，人们不得不学会与病毒共存。中国人的“抱拳礼”由于无需肢体接触，成了一种国际流行的礼仪。

中国人的“抱拳礼” （拱手礼）

在那个时代，许多人几乎足不出户，所有生活需求都能通过无人快递和家务机器人来满足。一些人不再追求全职工作，而是通过接受一些设计VR游戏皮肤和道具等兼职工作来过上自己满意的生活。比如，故事中的女主人公 – 陈楠。

身在新加坡的女主人公陈楠在新冠肺炎疫情爆发期间，亲眼目睹了自己的爷爷、奶奶和双亲离世，而造成了精神创伤，患上了一种把自己与世隔绝的恐惧症。

尽管如此，陈楠心中依然渴望被爱。她和一位来自巴西的小伙子加西亚在线上展开了恋爱，一种无接触式的精神恋爱。每当加西亚提出线下见面的要求时，陈楠一次又一次地拒绝了，因为她极度害怕与恋人亲密接触。

为了帮助心爱之人克服恐惧，证明即使文化差异巨大，也无法阻止他们之间的爱情，加西亚甚至注册了一个虚拟人，100%复制了自己的形象，连毛孔和伤疤都丝毫不差。他将AI驱动的虚拟化身放入新加坡城市模拟器中，以普通新加坡人的方式生活，并熟练使用各种本地应用，遵守当地的法规和准则。然而，当他再次提出与陈楠线下见面的请求时，依然遭到了拒绝。

《AI 未来进行式》

故事就讲到这里啦。如果您对加西亚如何利用各种人工智能应用技术抱得美人归感兴趣，可以阅读由李开复和陈楸帆联合创作的书 《AI 未来进行式》。

图片来源：搜狐网. 《AI未来进行式》书籍封面

李开复是创新工厂的创始人，时代杂志将其列为2023年人工智能领域最具影响力的100人之一。陈楸帆是科幻作家编剧翻译和策展人，他在2023年荣获了第二届三联人文城市奖提名。

让人们生活更加便利的AI 技术

在未来，我们不再需要随时携带各种监测各种生理数据的仪器了，只需要一片薄薄的生物感应贴膜就搞定。这种贴在手腕内侧的贴膜，能够实时显示各种生理数据（包括体内疫苗是否有效），而且是经过国家医疗机构认证的数字健康凭证（Digital Health Profile，DHP）。

图片来源：University of Bath. 生物感应贴膜示意图

生老病死是人生中不可避免的经历。数字化病历将大大提高医生与患者之间的沟通效率，以及疾病诊断和治疗的效果。未来，我们的生化数据将通过各种传感器进行采集。例如，生物感应贴膜可以获取体温、心率、生物电等参数；微型传感器以胶囊形式进入体内，可以进行化验血液、细胞取样、监测肿瘤标志物等工作, 不再需要侵入性的操作。甚至人体的排泄物也可以通过智能马桶分析其成分。另外，所有数据传送至云端后，将由医疗AI自动生成报告，并且传输过程都将进行加密，以防止被犯罪分子盗用。

人工智能会威胁人类的生存吗？

随着人工智能变得越来越强大，我们不禁会思考一个问题：人工智能是否会对人类的生存构成威胁？

目前哲学界对此争论不休，但大致上认为，如果人工智能具备了自我意识，那么人类的末日也就不远了。关于自我意识的定义，说法不一。不但它具有以下特征得到了一致认同：

（1）能够通过语言，描述周遭的环境和事物，并且做出相应的评价；

（2）能够对自身进行反思。

一旦人工智能具备了自我意识，也就意味着它可以自主思考，理解事物的元定理和元规则，不再受人类世界的规则和定义所束缚。

我们一方面期待着人工智能功能的不断增强带来的各种便利，如智能家居、智能机器人、智慧交通等等，但另一方面又担心人工智能具有自我意识的奇点即将到来。

在探讨人工智能的未来时，我们或许可以借鉴白居易的诗 “但见波涛不见人，江湖思绪万端。笑看风生与云起，不思量，自难忘。” 正如诗中所言，尽管未来充满了不确定性和挑战，但我们可以保持乐观，豁达地面对，笑看风云，无需思虑过重，该来的自然会来。

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