Cutting-edge weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging as a global security hazard, especially in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to several experts who spoke to The Epoch Times.
Eager to militarily surpass the United States, the CCP is unlikely to heed safeguards related to lethal AI technologies, which are increasingly dangerous in their own right, the experts said. The nature of the technology is prone to feeding some of the worst tendencies of the human psyche in general.
“The implications are quite dramatic,” said Bradley Thayer, a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy and an expert on China. “And they may be equal to that of nuclear revolution.”
The development of AI-powered autonomous weapons is rapidly progressing. “They’re becoming quickly more efficient and quickly more effective,” said Alexander De Ridder, an AI developer and co-founder of Ink. However, they’re not yet at a point where they can replace humans.
Autonomous drones, tanks, ships, submarines have become a reality alongside such exotic iterations as quadruped robot dogs armed with machine guns already seen in China. Even AI-powered humanoid robots are in production and their capabilities are advancing quickly.
Once these machines reach marketable usefulness and reliability, China is likely to direct its manufacturing might toward mass production. “The market will be flooded with humanoid robots and then it’s up to programming how they’ll be used,” De Ridder said.
Such AI-powered robots are very good at using optical sensors to identify objects including human beings which gives them potential as killing machines.
On a broader level multiple nations including China have been working on AI systems that can inform and coordinate battlefield decisions—essentially acting as electronic generals according Jason Ma data research lead at multinational Fortune 500 company.