Update on Artificial Intelligence—Superconvergence

My sweet, wonderful wife, knowing of my keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI), surprised me with the gift of a book that she thought would be of interest on the subject of AI. It turns out the book was not just about AI but also about how artificial intelligence, gene editing, genome sequencing, and other revolutionary technologies are transforming our world and the future.

The book is appropriately titled Superconvergence and is written by Jamie Metzl.  Metzl is a technology and healthcare futurist and the founder and chair of OneShared.World. He has extensive experience with the U.S. government, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations. He has written several books in addition to Superconvergence. I urge you to look him up to get a better understanding of his background. Suffice it to say that he is well qualified to write this book.

The book opened my eyes to a number of problems we face in the future, and Metzl offers solutions to all of them. Starting with information on AI and its progression into the future, the book then dives into other issues such as how we can continue, efficiently and properly, to feed our world’s growing population of now 8 billion people and expected to be 10 billion by 2050. He explains how the convergence of AI and healthcare technologies are extending life spans and helping to create the population growth. He explains that there are technologies already in existence or technologically able to be developed that will help solve a lot of the problems that will occur in the future. With the help of AI and gene sequencing, it is possible to “make” real meat from a single strip of cells from a single cow. The meat would be grown in large bioreactors. It is already happening on a smaller scale. Sounds like something out of "Star Trek," where they had a food replicator, doesn’t it?

The cow in the example is not a sacrificial cow since it can continue to live and contribute more “starter” strips in time. This process will reduce the number of cows needed in the world significantly, helping to free up land for other uses and reducing carbon emissions.

Getting back to the healthcare issues, AI can help in developing targeted healthcare treatments where the drugs and treatments are tailored to the individual and not just to a generic disease as is currently done.

There is much more in this interesting book. The author does tend to wander a bit (as I have done in writing this synopsis), and he slips in and out of climate change proselytizing and even admits to it once in the book. Despite these shortcomings, the book is an eye-opener. Did you know that we will run out of space in capturing and storing, especially long-term, all the data that we are and will be producing?  We need new technology! Silicon chips will not last for the long term before degrading. According to Metzl, we should be able to develop technology that will allow us to store data in the genes of living cells. The data can reside there for a very long time and can be retrieved. Bio computers are in our future also, using brain tissue and neurons.

I would encourage you to check this book out.