Greatful Moments received this excerpt from Jeremy Rifkin’s new book, Rescuing the Future, discussing his vision of a distributed “People’s AI” and what the future could look like when technology, energy, transportation, water, buildings, and communities are all connected.
I will admit something right up front.
When I hear people talking about artificial intelligence, my first thought isn’t usually about some giant futuristic infrastructure connecting the entire world.
I’m thinking about what AI is doing right now.
How people are using it. How quickly technology is changing. How much information is available at our fingertips. And, honestly, how much of our everyday lives already depends on technology that most of us probably couldn’t explain if somebody asked us exactly how it works.
Jeremy Rifkin’s vision takes that idea a whole lot further.
And that’s what caught my attention.
What Is the “People’s AI”?
Rifkin argues that we are moving toward a world where artificial intelligence won’t simply be controlled by a handful of enormous technology companies operating massive centralized data centers.
Instead, he describes a more distributed system — technology and computing happening closer to where people actually live and work.
He calls this the People’s AI.
The basic idea is that information and computing power can increasingly be shared and managed locally through what engineers call edge computing.
Instead of every piece of information traveling all the way to a giant centralized data center, some of the processing can happen much closer to where the information is being generated.
And when you stop and think about it, that actually makes sense.
If a machine, vehicle, building, factory or other system needs an immediate response, waiting for information to travel somewhere far away and come back may not always be the best option.
Rifkin Sees Five Connected Internets
One of the biggest ideas in the excerpt is that Rifkin isn’t talking about AI as something that exists by itself.
He sees several different systems coming together.
The first is the communication internet that most of us already know — smartphones, computers and the constant exchange of information.
Then comes an increasingly digitized electricity internet, where solar and wind power can be generated in communities, businesses, homes and other locations and shared through increasingly connected systems.
Then there is a mobility and logistics internet, involving electric vehicles and eventually other forms of low- or zero-emission transportation that can increasingly be managed through data and artificial intelligence.
He also describes a future water internet, involving smart water systems and microgrids that could collect, store and manage water locally.
And finally, he brings in smart buildings and what he calls additive infofacturing, including technologies such as 3D printing and connected building systems.
Put all of those pieces together and Rifkin sees something much bigger than individual gadgets.
He sees an infrastructure.
Everything Connected
Imagine a neighborhood where homes generate some of their own electricity.
That electricity can be monitored and managed through connected systems.
Vehicles communicate with infrastructure.
Water is collected and stored locally.
Buildings have sensors that monitor what’s happening inside and around them.
Agriculture has sensors.
Roads have sensors.
Factories have sensors.
Rivers, lakes and ecosystems have sensors.
All of that information can be analyzed and used to help people make decisions.
That sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie when you first read it.
But then again, so did a smartphone once upon a time.
Today, most of us carry a tiny computer in our pocket that can communicate with somebody on the other side of the world in seconds.
Why Does Edge Computing Matter?
This was one of the parts of Rifkin’s argument that I found especially interesting.
He talks about the latency factor — basically, the delay that can happen when information has to travel somewhere else before a system can respond.
His example is an autonomous vehicle.
If a vehicle is about to crash, you don’t necessarily want the information traveling to some distant data center, being processed there and then coming back before the vehicle reacts.
You want the technology handling that situation right there where it is happening.
That’s the basic thinking behind edge computing.
The closer the computing power is to the event, the faster the system can potentially respond.
And Rifkin believes that this shift could eventually mean that computing power becomes much more distributed instead of being concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of giant companies.
But What Does That Mean for Regular People?
This is where the idea gets interesting to me.
Technology can sometimes feel like something that happens to us.
A company develops something.
A company owns it.
A company controls the data.
A company decides how the technology is used.
Rifkin is describing a different possibility.
He believes technology can become more distributed, with communities and individuals having a greater role in producing, managing and using the systems around them.
That doesn’t mean we’re all suddenly going to become computer engineers.
Thank goodness, because I have enough things on my list without adding that to it.
But it does mean the technology surrounding our homes, communities, transportation, energy and other parts of daily life could become more locally connected and responsive.
This Is a Big Vision for the Future
Rifkin calls this transformation part of a Third Industrial Revolution.
His argument is that communication, energy, transportation, water and buildings are no longer completely separate systems.
They’re becoming connected through data.
And artificial intelligence can help coordinate all of those moving pieces.
That is a pretty big idea.
It also raises plenty of questions.
Who owns the data?
Who controls the systems?
How do we protect privacy?
What happens when technology fails?
How do we make sure communities that don’t have the same resources aren’t left behind?
And how much control should individuals actually have over systems that are becoming increasingly automated?
Those are questions that are going to matter whether we are ready for them or not.
Technology Isn’t Just About Technology
That’s probably what I took away most from reading this excerpt.
Rifkin isn’t really talking only about computers.
He’s talking about how we live.
How we get from one place to another.
How we produce and use electricity.
How we manage water.
How our homes and buildings work.
How communities communicate.
How information moves.
And who gets to participate in all of it.
His vision is that the next major technological transformation doesn’t have to mean that more and more power is concentrated in fewer hands.
Instead, he sees the possibility of technology becoming more distributed — closer to the people and communities actually using it.
Whether the future unfolds exactly the way Rifkin describes remains to be seen.
But I think it’s worth paying attention to the question he is asking:
What happens when artificial intelligence isn’t just something owned by giant corporations, but something that becomes part of the infrastructure belonging to communities and people?
That’s a conversation we’re probably going to be having for a very long time.
And considering how quickly technology has already changed our lives, I have a feeling the future may get here a whole lot faster than we think.
About Jeremy Rifkin
Jeremy Rifkin is the bestselling author of 25 books translated into more than 35 languages. According to the provided information, he has worked as an architect of economic plans connected to the European Union and China’s transition toward a Third Industrial Revolution and served as an economic advisor to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer on the U.S. infrastructure plan.
The ideas discussed here come from an excerpt from his new book, Rescuing the Future, including his discussion of “Power to the People: Everyone’s the Infrastructure in a Distributed World.”
Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.
GreatfulMoments.com
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
