The U.S.-China relationship will be the great geopolitical rivalry of the early 21st century, and every facet of the competition will involve the two big powers' capabilities in science and technology. Figures from across the political spectrum worry about a technology race with China, and many Americans fear that China has already surpassed us in such frontier technologies as artificial intelligence and 5G broadband communications. "China has stolen a march and is now leading in 5G," then-Attorney General William Barr declared in a recent keynote speech at a Justice Department conference on China. Graham Allison of Harvard University warns that China "is currently on a trajectory to overtake the United States in the decade ahead" in artificial intelligence. The conventional wisdom about China's supposed advantages in AI and 5G shows how easy it is for incomplete understanding of technologies to lead to misjudgments and policy mistakes.

Two years ago, Boston Dynamics released a video showing a 6' tall, 320 lb. Imagine the reaction of those out picnicking trying to escape worldly cares. This is one of many artificial intelligence innovations being developed throughout the world that would take your breath away, but often fly under the radar. On the eve of AI commercialization, we'd like to put forth a bold proposition. And that is, if some of tomorrow's AI innovations are used unwisely, there will be unintended consequences that could have been avoided if we had entered into informed dialogue.