China has seen incredible economic and social changes over the past few decades. But could the impact of artificial intelligence take the country by surprise? I recently spent a few weeks in the country, talking to researchers and entrepreneurs developing cutting-edge AI technologies and products. What stuck with me--beyond the growing ambition of China's researchers and the overall vibrancy of its tech scene--is how much people are starting to talk about the potential for AI to eliminate jobs across the country. Just a few years ago this seemed like much less of a concern.

As humanity stands on the brink of a technology triggered information revolution, the scale, scope and complexity of the impact of intelligence evolution in machines is unlike anything humankind has experienced before. As a result, the speed at which the ideas, innovations and inventions are emerging on the back of artificial intelligence has no historical precedent and is fundamentally disrupting everything in the human ecosystem. In addition, the breadth, depth and impact of this intelligence evolution on furthering of ideas and innovations across cyberspace, geospace and space (CGS) herald the fundamental transformation of entire interconnected and interdependent systems of basic and applied science: research and development, concept to commercialization, politics to governance, socialization to capitalism, education to training, production to markets, survival to security and more. The technology triggered intelligence evolution in machines and the linkages between ideas, innovations and trends have in fact brought us on the doorsteps of singularity. Irrespective of whether we believe that the singularity will happen or not, the very thought raises many concerns and critical security risk uncertainties for the future of humanity.

China has seen incredible economic and social changes over the past few decades. But could the impact of artificial intelligence take the country by surprise? I recently spent a few weeks in the country, talking to researchers and entrepreneurs developing cutting-edge AI technologies and products. What stuck with me--beyond the growing ambition of China's researchers and the overall vibrancy of its tech scene--is how much people are starting to talk about the potential for AI to eliminate jobs across the country. Just a few years ago this seemed like much less of a concern.