The Shogun And The Samurai

Imagining A Dystopian World Ruled By AI Algorithms

Abhishek Kothari
10 min readOct 12, 2018

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AI is different from humans, it does not have a psychological weakness-Lee Sedol, 9-Dan “Go” Player and 18 times world champion

Towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, feudalism in Japan was breathing its last few breaths. The Meiji restoration ( Taisei Hōkan) of imperial rule symbolized the end of an era where Shoguns (masters) ruled their territories and the Samurai (warriors) would give up their lives to protect the Shogun. Today, the owners of algorithms (platforms) are the modern Shogun, the AI algorithms are the equivalent of the Samurai and the data set that is used in the algorithm is like the sword wielded by the Samurai- the Katana. The better the data set, the sharper the edge. Using the analogy of feudal Japan prior to the Meiji restoration, this article takes a futuristic look at a world engaged in an AI arms race where geopolitical boundaries become irrelevant and everyday life is reduced to algorithms.

Setting The Stage

The ancient Chinese game of “Go” by Wikipedia

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Abhishek Kothari

Futurist@The Intersection of Finance, Tech & Humanity. Stories of a Global Language: “Money”. Contributor @ Startup Grind, HackerNoon, HBR