China warns US against letting AI determine life and death on battlefield
China’s military on Wednesday warned the United States against allowing artificial intelligence (AI) to “determine life and death” in warfare, as a dispute between the Pentagon and AI firm Anthropic highlighted growing tensions over military use of the technology. Speaking at a regular briefing in Beijing, defence ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said the “unrestricted application…
Speaking at a regular briefing in Beijing, defence ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said the “unrestricted application of AI by the military” could “erode ethical constraints and accountability in wars” and risk a “dangerous technological runaway”.
His remarks came in response to a question referencing reports that the US was pressing domestic technology companies to allow broader military use of their AI systems, and that it had already deployed such tools in operations related to conflicts involving Iran and Venezuela.
Jiang criticised what he said were choices, including “using AI as a tool to violate the sovereignty of other nations”, as well as “allowing AI to excessively affect war decisions, and giving algorithms the power to determine life and death”.
“China believes that human primacy must be upheld in military applications of AI, and that all relevant weapon systems must remain under human control,” he said, adding that Beijing supported a “people-centred approach and the principle of AI for good”.
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He also warned of the potential risks of allowing machines to dominate battlefield decisions, referencing the dystopian scenario depicted in the 1984 American film The Terminator.
