A solid, well-organized account of the military applications of AI and of the race to take the lead global position.
An intriguing study of how artificial intelligence is the new frontier for the rivalry between the U.S. and China.
AI is reaching into every part of our lives, but one of its most widespread applications is largely unseen to ordinary American citizens. The U.S. military is incorporating AI into nearly every aspect of their operations, from piloting jet fighters to optimizing logistical support. At the same time, other countries, especially China, are advancing their own systems. In fact, China has made no secret of its intention to become the leading player in AI by 2030. Scharre, a former Army Ranger and vice president and director of studies for the Center for a New American Security, understands the realities of war as well as the tech side, so he is well positioned to examine this field. He has already covered some of this ground in his significant 2018 book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War. The author identifies four crucial areas: data collection, computing hardware, talent, and institutions. Currently, the U.S. holds the lead, but it is steadily deteriorating. Scharre delves deeply into each area, noting that fundamental differences between authoritarian China and democratic U.S. China’s government-driven model provides unity of purpose and unlimited funding but restricts innovation. The American system is disaggregated and somewhat chaotic, but it attracts the best talent and is capable of radical breakthroughs. Scharre also examines how AI might change the nature of future conflicts, which may feature swarms of drones and supersmart targeting. A weakness of AI systems is that they do not respond well to changes of conditions, but this is gradually being overcome with new-generation machine learning. It is difficult to know whether to feel confident or disturbed by all this information, but Scharre effectively shows where military AI currently stands and where it is going.
A solid, well-organized account of the military applications of AI and of the race to take the lead global position.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-393-86686-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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