Four Battlegrounds
Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
An NPR 2023 "Books We Love" Pick
One of the Next Big Idea Club's Must-Read Books
"An invaluable primer to arguably the most important driver of change for our future." —P. W. Singer, author of Burn-In
An award-winning defense expert tells the story of today’s great power rivalry—the struggle to control artificial intelligence.
A new industrial revolution has begun. Like mechanization or electricity before it, artificial intelligence will touch every aspect of our lives—and cause profound disruptions in the balance of global power, especially among the AI superpowers: China, the United States, and Europe. Autonomous weapons expert Paul Scharre takes readers inside the fierce competition to develop and implement this game-changing technology and dominate the future.
Four Battlegrounds argues that four key elements define this struggle: data, computing power, talent, and institutions. Data is a vital resource like coal or oil, but it must be collected and refined. Advanced computer chips are the essence of computing power—control over chip supply chains grants leverage over rivals. Talent is about people: which country attracts the best researchers and most advanced technology companies? The fourth “battlefield” is maybe the most critical: the ultimate global leader in AI will have institutions that effectively incorporate AI into their economy, society, and especially their military.
Scharre’s account surges with futuristic technology. He explores the ways AI systems are already discovering new strategies via millions of war-game simulations, developing combat tactics better than any human, tracking billions of people using biometrics, and subtly controlling information with secret algorithms. He visits China’s “National Team” of leading AI companies to show the chilling synergy between China’s government, private sector, and surveillance state. He interviews Pentagon leadership and tours U.S. Defense Department offices in Silicon Valley, revealing deep tensions between the military and tech giants who control data, chips, and talent. Yet he concludes that those tensions, inherent to our democratic system, create resilience and resistance to autocracy in the face of overwhelmingly powerful technology.
Engaging and direct, Four Battlegrounds offers a vivid picture of how AI is transforming warfare, global security, and the future of human freedom—and what it will take for democracies to remain at the forefront of the world order.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The distribution of global power will soon dep=end on nations' AI capabilities, posits Scharre (Army of None), vice president at the Center for a New American Security, in this no-nonsense warning. Focusing on how AI influences competition between the U.S. and China, Scharre contends that data, computing power, talent, and institutions constitute the four factors that will prove critical to how that rivalry will play out. He suggests that prestigious U.S. institutions, namely top universities and tech companies, are helping the country win the fight for talent, and he proposes that increased funding for universities would ensure the U.S. keeps its lead. To underscore the stakes, Scharre describes how China has reportedly augmented its surveillance systems with AI that can supposedly detect "Uighur facial attributes," supporting the government's campaign to force the ethnic minority into concentration camps. However, though AI can be used "maliciously or carelessly," the author insists that the technology can also be used to boost "health care outcomes, economic growth, and other indicators of national well-being." This is as much about China's relationship with the U.S. as it is about AI, and reader interest will vary accordingly, though Scharre's levelheaded takes distinguish this from more alarmist outings. Technophiles and technophobes alike will be challenged and enlightened.
