Geopolitica dell’intelligenza artificiale

Artificial intelligence is humanity’s ultimate invention. Its emergence evokes the risk of extinction for its creator, as its spread will perhaps lead to its own replacement. These apocalyptic visions now pervade public discourse on technology, in a world where the very expression “artificial intelligence” has become ubiquitous and obsessive. These themes are far from new, given their deep philosophical roots and the pioneers who fuelled them in various fields throughout the 20th century. Yet something significant has already happened, and we are witnessing connections whose full meaning we do not yet grasp. The debate on artificial intelligence raises a number of key concepts, including the origin of intelligence itself, what we know and do not know about the brain and thought; the idea of “general” intelligence applied to machines; the quantitative and qualitative limits of computation; and the problem of aligning technology with our needs and values. But which companies are fuelling these processes? And what are their implications in a radically divided world, torn apart by the technological war between the United States and China, which cuts across the infrastructure and uses of artificial intelligence, and the race for the economic and material resources necessary for its continued development? Alessandro Aresu tells us about the intertwined relationships between philosophers, scientists and entrepreneurs who are shaping this world, such as Jensen Huang, founder of NVIDIA and a leading figure in the technological revolution surrounding AI, “Bill” Dally, computer scientist and scientific mind behind the prodigious microchips that make the evolution of AI possible, but also the relationship between Cynar and the pioneers of DeepMind, as well as the stories of the lesser-known managers working at OpenAI. He thus helps us to understand the present and possible future scenarios, marked by the artificial intelligence revolution, the struggles between companies engaged in the development of definitive AI and the geopolitical repercussions on the global balance. Artificial intelligence is humanity’s ultimate invention. How did “thinking” machines come about and how do they work? And what will be the repercussions on the global balance?