5 ms·

Extremely relevant quote from the talented Mr Ng: > “When the Chinese government announces a plan like this, it has significant implications for the country an

Extremely relevant quote from the talented Mr Ng: > “When the Chinese government announces a plan like this, it has significant implications for the country and the economy,” says Andrew Ng, a prominent AI expert who previously oversaw AI technology and strategy at China’s biggest online search company, Baidu. “It’s a very strong signal to everyone that things will happen.” ie. There is going to be a tonne of money poured into this. Will it make a difference, tangibly to economic transformation? Who knows... ...but anyone sitting here scoffing that China can’t make itself a world leader in a field by simply pouring money and support onto the problem needs a serious history lesson. They have before, and there is every indiction they will again, here with this. More interesting: will it be as transformative as everyone is hoping?

monkmartinez 9y ago
> ...but anyone sitting here scoffing that China can’t make itself a world leader in a field by simply pouring money and support onto the problem needs a serious history lesson. They have before, and there is every indiction they will again, here with this. What are they currently leading?
- pavanred 9y ago
  I would guess manufacturing
- sniperjzp 9y ago
  Internet related area, like payment service, on demand market, cloud computing, etc.
  - elefanten 9y ago
    Scale of deployment is not technology leadership
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      It seems we need to agree on a definition of "technology leadership" before discussing it further - otherwise it's too easy to keep moving the goalpost.
      - varjag 9y ago
        A fair definition of technology leadership is you are in the lead and others copy / strive for your achievements. Not many actual breakthroughs come from China so far, even though they could fill a few Olympic pools with PhDs.
- timthelion 9y ago
  solar
- ww520 9y ago
  One example where they poured money and got ahead is the rail system and the high speed rail system.
  - melling 9y ago
    They have 14,000 miles of high-speed rail with an additional 10,000 coming in 10 years. They move 1 billion people a year. They are also developing production low-speed maglev trains.
  - 0xbear 9y ago
    Their maglev train was built by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp in Germany, the _real_ leader in high speed rail transportation.
    - strin 9y ago
      Their high-speed rail train is not maglev. There is one built by Germany in Shanghai, but it was more of a demo than an actual infrastructure.
    - AlexCoventry 9y ago
      It doesn't work like that. If you sell significant goods in China, you have to manufacture there and your methods will be copied. China is moving towards economic autarchy very quickly.
  - danmaz74 9y ago
    That is a proven technology though. A completely different case.
- rjtobin 9y ago
  One area is scientific computing: based on, for example, the Top500 list, or their recent successes with the Gordon Bell prize (basically best paper prize for the biggest supercomputing conference). Of course there are a lot of political factors in both of those achievements. But money definitely translated into results. (I'm not arguing that China is the best nation in this area either, but they are clearly a leader.)
  - noetic_techy 9y ago
    Any country can literally buy their way to the top in this category.
- eighthnate 9y ago
  They are leading in solar, renewable, nuclear, patents, electric vehicles, high speed rail, hydropower, # of cities, industrialization, # of new universities, etc. China is leading in pretty much everything right now. They are the top trading partner of pretty much every significant country. And they are planning on building another 100 cities in the next 10 years. It is ridiculous how much change china is going through right now. Historically, urbanization/cities correlated with economic/military strength. Will that trend hold. China currently has 100 million man cities... https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/20/china-100-cities-populations-bigger-liverpool https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/20/china-100-cit... They are planning to double that in the next 10 years. We have 10 cities that are 1 million+ people. Europe ( including turkey and russia ) has 33 million man cities. Think about that.
  - oblio 9y ago
    China was kind of domineering, but on a global historic scale they could be considered somewhat non-violent. They even got invaded twice while being the top economic power of their time. There are quite a few aspects I don't like about China, but warmongers, they are not. If anything, the modern era should be a boon to them, since developed countries are virtually conquerable at a certain scale, via modern technology instantly turning that industrial base into a top tier military, if needed, and via the usually strong alliances provided by strong trade relations. I actually believe China can be a peaceful #1, provided they can be stopped from bullying their neighbors and Africa when the latest political scandal demands a distraction (à la Clinton - Kosovo).
    - gurkendoktor 9y ago
      > They even got invaded twice while being the top economic power of their time. There are quite a few aspects I don't like about China, but warmongers, they are not. Is extrapolating from the past really useful if the Chinese government has been completely replaced in a civil war, which was followed by the massive changes of the cultural revolution? Likewise, is Germany a dangerous country right now because "we" have started 100% of world wars within the last century? Honestly, I wouldn't even trust our military to capture Luxembourg right now... (probably for the better!) This applies to all aspects of China's development, of course, not just their military.
- DelightOne 9y ago
  > world leader in a field by simply pouring money and support onto the problem Look at their debt and then tell me they dont try.
- AndrewKemendo 9y ago
  Volume Manufacturing
- golfer 9y ago
  Pollution.
- djit 9y ago
  China is already the first global superpower. To believe otherwise is delusional. China became capitalist several decades ago under the disguise of communism, keeping a tight control over its people, economy and foreign policy.
gph 9y ago
The US has dumped large amounts of money and support behind huge scientific endeavors like the Human Genome Project. Certainly that example helped advance genomic science and the biotech industry in America. But it didn't quite live up to the hype, and it hasn't exactly saved the US economy from the normal ups and downs of global competition. Course ya never know, could be the start of the next ARPANET too.

monkmartinez 9y ago

> ...but anyone sitting here scoffing that China can’t make itself a world leader in a field by simply pouring money and support onto the problem needs a serious history lesson. They have before, and there is every indiction they will again, here with this. What are they currently leading?

pavanred 9y ago
I would guess manufacturing
sniperjzp 9y ago
Internet related area, like payment service, on demand market, cloud computing, etc.
- elefanten 9y ago
  Scale of deployment is not technology leadership
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    It seems we need to agree on a definition of "technology leadership" before discussing it further - otherwise it's too easy to keep moving the goalpost.
    - varjag 9y ago
      A fair definition of technology leadership is you are in the lead and others copy / strive for your achievements. Not many actual breakthroughs come from China so far, even though they could fill a few Olympic pools with PhDs.
timthelion 9y ago
solar
ww520 9y ago
One example where they poured money and got ahead is the rail system and the high speed rail system.
- melling 9y ago
  They have 14,000 miles of high-speed rail with an additional 10,000 coming in 10 years. They move 1 billion people a year. They are also developing production low-speed maglev trains.
- 0xbear 9y ago
  Their maglev train was built by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp in Germany, the _real_ leader in high speed rail transportation.
  - strin 9y ago
    Their high-speed rail train is not maglev. There is one built by Germany in Shanghai, but it was more of a demo than an actual infrastructure.
  - AlexCoventry 9y ago
    It doesn't work like that. If you sell significant goods in China, you have to manufacture there and your methods will be copied. China is moving towards economic autarchy very quickly.
- danmaz74 9y ago
  That is a proven technology though. A completely different case.
rjtobin 9y ago
One area is scientific computing: based on, for example, the Top500 list, or their recent successes with the Gordon Bell prize (basically best paper prize for the biggest supercomputing conference). Of course there are a lot of political factors in both of those achievements. But money definitely translated into results. (I'm not arguing that China is the best nation in this area either, but they are clearly a leader.)
- noetic_techy 9y ago
  Any country can literally buy their way to the top in this category.
eighthnate 9y ago
They are leading in solar, renewable, nuclear, patents, electric vehicles, high speed rail, hydropower, # of cities, industrialization, # of new universities, etc. China is leading in pretty much everything right now. They are the top trading partner of pretty much every significant country. And they are planning on building another 100 cities in the next 10 years. It is ridiculous how much change china is going through right now. Historically, urbanization/cities correlated with economic/military strength. Will that trend hold. China currently has 100 million man cities... https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/20/china-100-cities-populations-bigger-liverpool https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/20/china-100-cit... They are planning to double that in the next 10 years. We have 10 cities that are 1 million+ people. Europe ( including turkey and russia ) has 33 million man cities. Think about that.
- oblio 9y ago
  China was kind of domineering, but on a global historic scale they could be considered somewhat non-violent. They even got invaded twice while being the top economic power of their time. There are quite a few aspects I don't like about China, but warmongers, they are not. If anything, the modern era should be a boon to them, since developed countries are virtually conquerable at a certain scale, via modern technology instantly turning that industrial base into a top tier military, if needed, and via the usually strong alliances provided by strong trade relations. I actually believe China can be a peaceful #1, provided they can be stopped from bullying their neighbors and Africa when the latest political scandal demands a distraction (à la Clinton - Kosovo).
  - gurkendoktor 9y ago
    > They even got invaded twice while being the top economic power of their time. There are quite a few aspects I don't like about China, but warmongers, they are not. Is extrapolating from the past really useful if the Chinese government has been completely replaced in a civil war, which was followed by the massive changes of the cultural revolution? Likewise, is Germany a dangerous country right now because "we" have started 100% of world wars within the last century? Honestly, I wouldn't even trust our military to capture Luxembourg right now... (probably for the better!) This applies to all aspects of China's development, of course, not just their military.
DelightOne 9y ago
> world leader in a field by simply pouring money and support onto the problem Look at their debt and then tell me they dont try.
AndrewKemendo 9y ago
Volume Manufacturing
golfer 9y ago
Pollution.
djit 9y ago
China is already the first global superpower. To believe otherwise is delusional. China became capitalist several decades ago under the disguise of communism, keeping a tight control over its people, economy and foreign policy.

gph 9y ago

The US has dumped large amounts of money and support behind huge scientific endeavors like the Human Genome Project. Certainly that example helped advance genomic science and the biotech industry in America. But it didn't quite live up to the hype, and it hasn't exactly saved the US economy from the normal ups and downs of global competition. Course ya never know, could be the start of the next ARPANET too.