For years, the story of artificial intelligence (AI) has been framed as a high-stakes contest between the US and China, a technological arms race with global implications. However, De Kai, a pioneering machine learning scientist and advocate for AI ethics, offers a different perspective. In an interview, De Kai, a professor of computer science and engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, stated, “I would prefer to think about it as the AI climate change challenge. Literally, AI is a change to the [social] climate that humanity is competing in.”

De Kai, who professionally goes by his given name (his surname is Wu), has been at the forefront of AI research for four decades. His work dates back to his PhD in natural language processing at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early 1980s.

His new book, "Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future," released on June 3, proposes a paradigm shift in how humanity interacts with AI. The book argues that people should "parent" these systems as if they were their children. De Kai posits, “What’s the single thing in folks’ lives that makes them most want to become better versions of themselves? Having kids, most grown folks say.”

The core of this argument is that since AI learns by absorbing everything humans do and say online, individuals need to be conscientious about their behavior, effectively acting as good role models for their AI "children." The book emphasizes the importance of being good examples for AI.

This concern for the ethical development and societal impact of AI is not new for De Kai. He has served on the board of The Future Society and was an inaugural member of Google’s short-lived AI ethics council, highlighting his long-standing commitment to responsible AI.