★ A cross-disciplinary work by Zhu Jiaming, an economist, written over many years, weaving together philosophy, economics and neurobiology — a rare general treatise on artificial intelligence thought in recent years.
★ The author holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and has been a visiting scholar at six universities including Harvard and MIT; he was also a principal organiser of the 1984 Moganshan Conference.
★ It takes apart the ecosystem of large models and the rise of embodied intelligence, placing the technological wave back into the shifting landscape of geopolitics and the economy, and focuses on how AI is reshaping economic theory, artistic creation and women's consciousness.
★ A work of science concerned with the human condition, it clarifies what it means for AI to be the civilisation's "third being" and assesses where the age of superintelligence is heading.

This book is a monograph that explores, from multiple dimensions, the historical evolution, current state and future development of artificial intelligence.

The book argues that for thousands of years human civilization has rested on two kinds of existence: the first is physical and material existence; the second is spiritual and conscious existence. After 2022, because of the combination of AI and neural networks, the breakthrough in deep learning, and the emergence and application of large language models, AI has been able to process natural language, represent knowledge, reason soundly and infer automatically. It is moving toward thinking and acting like a human, becoming a "third being" that possesses both mental and physical characteristics. The third being created by AI is a complex ecosystem of "AI + human + environment." AI, humanity, human society and nature are mutually embedded.

The book is divided into four chapters. Chapter One explains the scientific principles of AI, the history of its fusion with various disciplines, and the relationship between natural and artificial intelligence. Chapter Two focuses on large models and their applications, and on the significance and future of embodied intelligence as a rising new species. Chapter Three analyzes, prospectively, AI's impact on and alteration of traditional economics, as well as its shock to and remaking of the economy, finance, regional development, urbanization and especially education. Chapter Four, from the perspective of the humanities and the arts, examines AI's reshaping of humanity itself, its influence on scientific method, artistic development and women's consciousness, and the deeper meaning of related science fiction and games. The book is interdisciplinary, historical and practice-oriented. It draws on philosophy, economics, sociology, logic, biological neuroscience and related hard technologies, focuses on the real-world applications of AI and its continuing and profound effects on models of economic growth, the economic system, geopolitics and cultural forms, and calls for stronger international cooperation on AI governance, so that AI is not captured by capital or subjected to the natural monopoly of a few platforms.

Zhu Jiaming
Economist; currently Chairman of the Academic and Technical Committee at the Digital Finance Research Institute of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. In the 1980s and 1990s, he earned a master's and a doctorate in economics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan, Columbia University, Harvard University, MIT, the University of Manchester and the University of Melbourne. After 2000, he served as an industrial development officer at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and taught at the University of Vienna. Since 2018, his research has focused on blockchain, the metaverse, AI and the history of money and finance. His representative works include A Brief Introduction to the Structure of the National Economy, Reality and Choice, On Non-equilibrium Growth, From Freedom to Monopoly: Two Thousand Years of China's Monetary Economy, Collected Essays on Books, The Future Determines the Present, Research on Blockchain Decentralization Indices: Computational Methods, Technology and Their Digital-Economic Significance, The Metaverse and the Digital Economy, and History Will Not Fuse (a reference to the market circuit-breaker, 熔断).

Chapter One: Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy
AI: The Science of Sciences / 003
AI in the Twentieth Century: A Thought Movement from "Metaphysics" to "Physics" / 025
AI vs. Natural Intelligence / 039
Why AI Means a New Era / 053
In the Age of Intelligent Civilization, AI and Humanity Share Cosmic Wisdom / 066
Toward a Parallel or Multi-dimensional World / 070
Is AI Approaching Its Oppenheimer Moment? / 075
Conversations with Digital Turing and Jobs / 082

Chapter Two: The Rise of Large Models and Embodied Intelligence
AI Large Models / 089
Seven Key Moments in the Development of AI Large Models / 117
The Clustering and "Lego-ization" of Large Models / 123
Why Large Models Will Usher in the Era of Digital–Intelligent Integration / 130
ChatGPT's Phenomenal Rise: Should Humanity Be Anxious? / 142
Open-source Software and AI / 148
The Rise, Consequences and Significance of Embodied Intelligence / 163
The TopAIGC Consensus / 187
A Proposal for Building and Improving the Global Digital Ecosystem / 193

Chapter Three: Digital–Intelligent Integration and Economic Restructuring
AI's Deep Restructuring of the Economic Form / 199
AI Is Changing the Principles of Economics / 245
Ten Issues in Digital Technology and the Digital Economy Today / 258
Driving the Dual Transition of Digitalization and Intelligentization / 282
How AI Brings Web3 Out of the Fog / 292
2024: The Frontiers, Trends and Challenges of Global AI / 300
Reshaping the Future: The Deep Integration of AI and Sustainable Development / 330
Global Intelligent Transformation and Regional Division of Labor / 360
Innovation in the Intelligent Age and Smart City 2.0 / 371
Hong Kong: Leveraging Institutional Advantages to Reorganize Industry Clusters / 376
From Digital Finance to Intelligent Finance / 382

Chapter Four: Human Civilization and AI
The Cosmic Perspective Above All / 395
Initiating a Comprehensive Transition to the New Human / 402
AI's Impact on Scientific Research / 413
New Forms of Technology Will Dominate the Next 25 Years / 418
AI Art: Phenomenon, Essence and Impact / 429
Women's Power in the Age of Intelligence: Challenges, Opportunities and the Path to Empowerment / 464
What Is the Historical and Contemporary Significance of "Frankenstein"? / 469
The Genes of "Warcraft": Embedding, Inheritance and Mutation / 482
Afterword / 490
Index / 497