How to Win the A.I. Arms Race
China has access to a bigger facial recognition database, but the United States has advantages too
Experts agree that we’re headed toward a future where global leadership in artificial intelligence will translate into economic and military dominance. Unfortunately, authoritarian regimes, such as China, have inherent advantages in research and development. The training of A.I. systems requires data — lots of it. Big data is the oil of the Digital Age and whoever has the most of it — at the highest quality and at the lowest cost — will have a comparative advantage.
Assembling and using big data sets in developed countries, however, can be complicated, for privacy and legal reasons. For example, the European Union is considering rules giving each individual the right to control how their facial data can be used in facial recognition technology — which will (probably) slow development.
Meanwhile, China is developing its facial recognition software on an unimpeded basis, using a big data set developed from the pictures on hundreds of millions of government-issued ID cards — probably the world’s largest facial ID data set, since everyone in China over the age of 16 must have an ID card.
