"The Big Nine who will determine the future of artifical intelligence (AI) - Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook in America; and Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent in China - serve masters with conflicting interests. Wall Street wants profit now without regard to consequences. The Chinese government wants citizens cowed by social controls. These companies are likely to deliver what their respective masters want - decisions that are increasingly out of whack with humanity's best interests. Yet there is still time to choose the right path. In three eye-opening scenarios - optimistic, pragmatic, catastrophic - Webb forecasts the potential directions AI could take. If the Big Nine change course from a path now leading to disaster, AI could indeed be a boon for humanity. If not, our democratic ideals could implode." (Back cover)