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  • Published: 16 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9780753559352
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $36.00

AI 2041

Ten Visions for Our Future




New York Times bestselling non-fiction author joins forces with a celebrated science-fiction novelist to blend imaginative storytelling and scientific forecasting to ask how artificial intelligence will change our world over the next 20 years.

In this ground-breaking blend of imaginative storytelling and scientific forecasting, a pioneering AI expert and a leading writer of speculative fiction join forces to answer an imperative question: How will artificial intelligence change our world within twenty years?

AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand new forms of communication and entertainment. In liberating us from routine work, however, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order. Meanwhile, AI will bring new risks in the form of autonomous weapons and smart technology that inherits human bias. AI is at a tipping point, and people need to wake up-both to AI's radiant pathways and its existential perils for life as we know it.

In this provocative, utterly original work of "scientific fiction," Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, joins forces with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. In ten gripping short stories, set twenty years in the future, they introduce readers to an array of eye-opening 2041 settings:

In San Francisco, a new industry, "job reallocation," arises to serve displaced workers
In Tokyo, a music fan is swept up in an immersive form of celebrity worship
In Mumbai, a teenage girl rebels when AI gets in the way of romance
In Seoul, virtual teachers offer orphaned twins new ways to learn and connect
In Munich, a rogue quantum computer scientist's revenge plot imperils the world

By gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, AI 2041 offers urgent insights into our collective future-while reminding readers that, ultimately, humankind remains the author of its destiny.

  • Published: 16 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9780753559352
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $36.00

Praise for AI 2041

We have reached a momentous inflection point with AI, and no other book I've read captures it with such stunning insight and imagination

Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO, Thrive Global

The perfect fusion of science and fiction, illuminating the pervasive impact artificial intelligence will have in our lives and the challenges we face in shaping a techno-future that benefits all of humanity

Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce

Through amazingly entertaining stories, Lee and Chen take us on an immersive trip through the future and then zoom out with exceptionally clear explanations of the technology at work... enjoyable and eye-opening

Mark Cuban

An invaluable and entertaining vision of the future

Ray Dalio, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of PRINCIPLES

By blending imaginative storytelling and technical expertise, Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan bring to life a vision for AI that addresses both our curiosity and our fears... Captivating

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

This inspired collaboration between a pioneering technologist and a visionary writer of science fiction offers bold and urgent insights into how these technologies may impact our lives

Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist, Facebook

To say that AI 2041 is enlightening and valuable, is to understate its significance... AI 2041's scientific fiction gives us a way to open our eyes to what is actually going on all around us and where things are heading

Forbes.com, John Kao

In this provocative, utterly original work, Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, teams up with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. In ten gripping short stories

Tor.com

AI 2041 builds a multilayered view of a future where artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies become embedded in our lives, for good or ill...Well-crafted . . . This book serves as an imaginative invitation to consider the potential for harm that may arise from [AI] projects, however unintended

Science

The book brims with intriguing insights into the ways industries could harness intelligent machines... AI 2041 is a manifesto for us to seek out the best in this technology

Financial Times