A review by pandabearsfly
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan

3.0

Kai-Fu Lee knows his AI, and the analysis sections of the book are clear and detailed. And the premise for the book, of pairing speculative short stories with expert commentary, immediately had me sold. The thing is, the English translation just reads as awkward. The original Chinese versions of the short stories might be quite good, but the English text comes off alternately as overly academic or cheesy. (In the story about long-distance relationships, there was a comparison between the Brazilian boyfriend and Chinese girlfriend as the pastel to her dumpling that was highly amusing, but tonally jarring in an otherwise serious piece.)

I'd love to see other science fiction books with a similar premise, but with this one, I'd recommend reading all the analysis first and then perusing the stories that catch your eye.