China is worried about Artificial Intelligence and the threat that it poses to the country’s national security if not the entire world. During a meeting this week, Xi Jinping called for “dedicated efforts” to ensure the governance of internet data and artificial intelligence. He specifically called out “threats to political security.” It is perhaps not coincidental that Xi called this meeting only shortly after he met with Elon Musk. As you may recall, Musk was one of the tech giants who recently signed a letter calling for a six-month “pause” in the development of even more advanced AI. (Associated Press)
China’s ruling Communist Party is calling for beefed-up national security measures, highlighting the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence.
A meeting headed by party leader and President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xi, who is China’s head of state, commander of the military and chair of the party’s National Security Commission, called at the meeting for “staying keenly aware of the complicated and challenging circumstances facing national security.”
You can see why the Chinese Communist Party would be worried about “political security” issues regarding AI. The Chinese government pours vast resources into suppressing the speech of its citizens and restricting the access they have to online information. Anything that might allow the Chinese people faster and deeper access to information could be a risk to the party. And AI certainly presents that possibility.
But the question China faces is much the same as all other nations. What do they propose to do about it? I suppose they could just shut down the internet entirely inside of the country except for government accounts. But the people might see that as a large step too far and revolt. And if there will still be web access, rooting out and blocking or eliminating all AI may prove impossible.
Everyone keeps talking about the importance of imposing “guardrails” on AI without explaining what those boundaries would look like and how they might be enforced. And while China is at least talking about being on guard against AI, much of the rest of the world seems to be almost recklessly embracing it, including the United States.
Just yesterday, I was watching an interview with Avi Loeb, the Harvard theoretical physicist and head of The Galileo Project. He expressed skepticism over the idea that AI was “coming to take everyone’s jobs” and said there has always been resistance to new technology. I pointed out in the chat that Avi’s job would probably be fine, but the person who is replaced from their job recording prescriptions at a doctor’s office (an example he offered of a job AI could do) will not immediately be offered a position writing code at OpenAI. He spoke of how AI could “free us” from many forms of basic labor so we could have more free time for recreation and relaxation. But nobody pays you to stay home and relax. The whole discussion just seemed ungrounded and out of touch.
But he really tripped my triggers when he suggested that AI might be able to create self-replicating nanobots that would “expand man’s reach to the stars.” On my frequently-updated list of the most likely ways for humanity to exterminate itself, self-replicating AI nanobots are always in the top five. SciFi/horror films have already been made about this possibility. Those nanobots might expand the reach of man’s creations to the stars, but they’ll be doing it without us.
Meanwhile, the advance of AI continues apace. A recent analysis by VezaDigital Media found that ChatGPT has reached traffic levels just shy of one billion users per month. China is trying to slow this pace down. America seems determined to accelerate it. I wonder which of us will wind up having the last laugh, assuming either country survives to enjoy it.
