President Vladimir Putin of Russia was not hedging when he stated that the country that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will rule the world. Neither was President Xi of China who has set the goal for China to become a global leader in AI. Europe, Canada, the United States, and other major economies of the world have already understood that the dawn of a new era has begun. The advanced economies also understand that unlike previous revolutions, this new era offers little or no examples of how to maneuver and navigate through this technological and economic puzzle. The glorious rise of intelligent machines is not an ordinary change. After all, the last time humans lived with an intelligent species was when Neanderthals and humans coexisted and that didn't work out too well for the Neanderthals. Fast forward thousands of years and once again humanity is challenged by another type of intelligence. This time however, it is our own creation. Throughout human history, machines have stayed as loyal and subservient servants to the commands of their creator master. Today, the advent of AI is poised to change all that.

The previous paragraph captures the essence of the challenge: humans are creating intelligence but have no experience in dealing with intelligent machines. However, the change is not limited to machines. It encapsulates the massive social, political, economic, psychological, and spiritual alteration that comes with an extraordinary change. In some ways, the essence of humankind is being redefined. This book is about that change, but it is written from the perspective of government. Unlike dozens of texts that have addressed the change from a business side, this is the first book that will address the role, responsibility, and challenge of managing AI from the government side.

In some ways, the advent of AI technology happened too soon and too unexpectedly. It is as if terminator robots and AI bots jumped out of a Hollywood flick and started breeding furiously. Within a seven-year period, the fascinating stories that ornamented comic books suddenly became the ultimate priorities of company boards and government leaders.