Russia Tries to Get Smart about Artificial Intelligence

It was the first day of school in Russia, a much-beloved unofficial holiday, and President Vladimir Putin was on stage in a national TV broadcast, chatting with jeans-clad teenagers about the future. "Artificial intelligence is the future," he told them, "not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world." Then, this March, in the final moments of Putin's re-election campaign, came a stern message to lawmakers at his annual address to parliament: "The speed of technological progress is accelerating sharply... Those who manage to ride this technological wave will surge far ahead. Those who fail to do this will be submerged and drown."