China Leading the World in Artificial Intelligence Weaponry

It’s an arms race for the post-modern age. China has been developing Artificial Intelligence weaponry at a much higher rate than the U.S. and experts say it’s something that neither Silicon Valley nor The Pentagon should be turning their backs on.

The cultural difference makes it far more likely for China to quickly adopt AI for any application, including military applications.

Reports suggest that the tech and governmental sectors of China have been working together in a “military-civil fusion” and according to a recent Financial Times report, the partnership has become a nightmare for western governments like the U.S., which has mostly taken the opposite approach.

“China has fewer barriers to adopting AI in the military because there is not as large of a social stigma attached to their usage like there is in the United States,” Matthew Bey, a Senior Global Analyst at intelligence firm Stratfor told Fox News. “While we focus on AI the difference in this view is far beyond just AI but rather tech in general. Americans, on average, are far more skeptical about the benefits of technology.”

Bey also points out that China’s rise over the last few decades has been synonymous with the adoption of new technologies, which its citizens have been quick to adopt.

“The cultural difference makes it far more likely for China to quickly adopt AI for any application, including military applications,” he said.

The Pentagon works with U.S. tech companies, although these efforts have sometimes proved controversial.

Last year Google opted not to renew its contract with the Department of Defense for Project Maven, a controversial Pentagon Drone AI imaging program that sparked a backlash from many Google employees.

Thousands of employees signed a petition opposing Google’s involvement in Project Maven. Dozens also reportedly resigned in protest.

Bey adds that while the U.S. government, like its Chinese counterpart, relies heavily on its national tech sector, there is less of a stigma about controversial projects in China.

(Adapted from: Fox News)

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