Kai-fu Lee envisions more opportunities in turmoils of change.(Photo provided to China Daily)
"The unemployment problem caused by the use of AI programs and robots won't be as serious as many have been worried," according to the book. "Simple jobs will be replaced, and new jobs will be created."
In another new book, Intelligence Revolution: Embracing the Societal, Economic and Cultural Changes in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Li Yanhong, the founder of Baidu Inc, paints a similar picture but with more details. Published in April, the book is crammed with technological terms, company products and the Chinese tech company's AI vision.
It tries to tell those who are interested in the company how it will chart the course into the next big market, just as the book's title goes - "embracing the societal, economic and cultural changes in the age of artificial intelligence".
The company is one of the forerunners in AI research in China, and in his book, Li is urging the government to do deeper and wider AI research on a national level.
In his book, Li advocates using AI and big data to solve problems of child trafficking and traffic congestion, among other issues. He also made the proposal to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top advisory body, during its annual session in March. He is a member of the CPPCC.
Liu Cixin, the acclaimed science fiction writer, has written the preface for Intelligence Revolution.
Liu thinks that there are two possibilities of how human society will embrace the age of AI.
First, it may not adapt itself quickly to the wide use of AI, causing all kinds of social, economic and political problems.
"The world will be troubled by the waves of unemployment and the endless conflicts ensued," he writes in the preface.
Second, people make a successful transition, and it will be the biggest change ever in people's lives.
