A Veteran of Big Tech Talks About AI and Investing in China
Kai-Fu Lee, a venture capitalist who worked at Apple, Google, and Microsoft, says artificial intelligence creates problems that should be addressed with regulation and new technologies.
Lee is an expert in machine learning and automation.
Photographer: Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg
The head of Sinovation Ventures, one of the first Chinese venture capital firms to have a presence in the U.S., has a unique view into how artificial intelligence is changing the world’s two largest economies. Kai-Fu Lee is also the co-author of the recently published AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future, a book of science fiction stories about AI set 20 years in the future.
Why is science fiction the best way to communicate what you envision AI doing to society in 20 years?
AI is perhaps the most important technology in the history of mankind, and yet it’s sometimes viewed as rocket science, very hard to understand. So I wanted to see if there’s a way to make it accessible to people.
Do you think the companies that deploy AI today are taking into account the pitfalls and the peril that you associate with AI?
They’re trying, but the tools aren’t there yet. None of the problems were intentionally created, but now we need training, regulations, and investigation into new technologies to combat them.
Do companies have incentives to do that work?
No, and the only way to fix it is to realign the incentives. In the short term that entails regulations or third-party AI audits. In the long term, it’s encouraging the building of better applications and products. If there were a product that could make me more intelligent, knowledgeable, and happier, that would be a product I would want more than the Facebook news feed.
Has the Chinese tech crackdown changed the way you’re thinking about investing in Chinese companies?
We’ve always been investors in deep tech, which hasn’t seen as much growth as the internet giants but is going to generate the best returns going forward.
How will the pandemic affect the Chinese tech industry and its place in the world?
The pandemic pushed China further in the adoption of automation and robotics. On the flip side, remote work has enabled the use of AI and cloud technologies, an area where the U.S. has done the best job. So each country has gotten some benefits out of Covid, even though it’s a terrible disaster for the whole world.
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