One thing we can be sure about AI -- because we are told it so often and at so increasingly high a pitch -- is that whatever it actually is, the national interest demands more of it. And we need it now, or else China will beat us there, and we certainly wouldn't want that, would we? What does it look like, how would it work, and how would it change our society? The race is on, and if America doesn't start taking AI seriously, we're going to find ourselves the losers in an ever-widening Dystopia Gap. Savage and Nancy Scola exemplifies the mix of maximum alarm and minimum meaning that's become so typical in our national (and nationalist) discussion around artificial intelligence.

AI, which is supposed to stand for "artificial intelligence," now spans applications from cameras to the military to medicine. One thing we can be sure about AI -- because we are told it so often and at so increasingly high a pitch -- is that whatever it actually is, the national interest demands more of it. And we need it now, or else China will beat us there, and we certainly wouldn't want that, would we? What does it look like, how would it work, and how would it change our society? The race is on, and if America doesn't start taking AI seriously, we're going to find ourselves the losers in an ever-widening Dystopia Gap.

What would we find, if we could look into the future? Will we be living like the Jetsons.. served by machines? Or will we be trying to battle the machines.. like the Terminator? Today there's a new technology race that pits the US against both China and Russia. It's the race for A.I... artificial intelligence... which many believe will define the century and maybe our survival.

Bottom Line: China's nationwide pursuit to become the world leader in artificial intelligence (AI) is an attempt to not only match U.S. economic power, but to bypass it geo-strategically. While Beijing's involvement is spurred by economic ambitions, it has made it clear that the development of AI will simultaneously be for military applications that could change the character of warfare and place the U.S. at a geopolitical disadvantage. Background: China has quickly spurred its innovation engines into action, seeking to leapfrog U.S. military and technological supremacy through advanced AI and machine learning. Their unique brand of capitalism and government control has enabled bottom-up innovation that is broadly guided by the hand of the Chinese Community Party. China's whole-of-nation approach means the U.S. has found itself in a race against a strategic competitor.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is everywhere these days, from self-driving cars and voice-activated software like Siri and Alexa. It's being used in fields from criminal justice to finance. So this year in All Tech Considered, we're going to spend some time exploring AI. Its leadership wants to dominate the tech world. It's one way China can beat possible competitors and adversaries.