At the Speed of Irrelevance

CHAPTER 2The Painful Effects of Losing the AI Battle

IT WAS THE CHRISTMAS Day. An 18½ feet tall noble fir from Oregon rose in the Blue Room of the White House. On it hung 1200 needlepoint ornaments, meticulously created and decorated with pride and care. Over 500 volunteers had worked to decorate the White House. There was the normal hustle and bustle of Christmas, and the mood was festive. In the next few weeks over 100,000 guests would be entertained by the White House. But there was something dramatically different about this Christmas. Never before in the history of the United States had a Christmas Day looked so special. Those who experienced it knew that the joy on this day far exceeded the normal delight and enjoyment that Christmas brings.

Nearly 5000 miles away from Washington, DC, as the sun set on Christmas in Moscow, the mood was anything but pleasant. Against a darkening sky in the background, the flag of the Soviet Union was brought down for the very last time. It would never see daylight again. As the sun rose next morning, the Soviet Union was no longer. Millions of Soviet citizens watched in disbelief as their country was shattered into pieces, melting away the national pride and identity. The unthinkable had happened. A country along with its ideology had come to an end. The world had changed. In the words of President George H.W. Bush, “That confrontation is now over. The nuclear threat—while far from gone—is receding. Eastern Europe is free. The Soviet Union ...