Monday 11 October 2021
American expert gives reasons
Can’t compete with China for artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the defining global technology of the 21st century. Industrialized nations compete for development, but the United States sees the race as lost because China ignores ethical standards.
The United States has already lost the battle for supremacy in artificial intelligence to China, according to the former chief of programs at the Department of Defense. “In 15 to 20 years, we won’t have a competitive chance against China,” Nicholas Chelan, the Pentagon’s first software official, told the Financial Times. “It’s already a done deal, in my opinion, it’s already over.” Chinese companies are obligated to work with their government and make “huge investments” in AI regardless of morality.
Chaelan, who resigned in protest at what he believes is too slow the pace of technological change in the US military, sees the United States in danger of this failure. China is on the verge of dominating the future of the world and controlling everything from media coverage to geopolitics. However, cyber defense in the United States is still “kindergarten-level” in some government agencies.
The expert also criticized Google’s reluctance to work with the US Department of Defense in the field of artificial intelligence. And intense debates about the ethics of AI will slow his country down. As the world’s second largest economy, according to Western intelligence agencies, China will master many of the most important new technologies in about ten years – notably artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and genetics.
Artificial intelligence—which primarily includes self-learning and digital, networked systems—is the defining global technology of the 21st century. It is just as reliable for changing the economy as the electric or the combustion engine. In Germany, nearly 70 percent of companies see AI as the most important future technology, according to a survey by the Bitkom Digital Association. Every fourth company wants to invest here.
